A lime processing plant in Giles County has been declared unable to meet air quality standards in a rare move by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.
The Kimballton Plant No. 1, located in a remote part of the county, was added to a list of non-attainment areas in a vote taken Wednesday by the state Air Pollution Control Board.
Sulfur dioxide emissions from the plant exceed limits set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the board was told. The plant burns limestone in kilns to produce a product with a number of industrial applications that include use in steelmaking.
Adding the plant and surrounding area to the non-attainment list aligns the state with federal regulations and allows for corrective action aimed at reducing emissions.
About 54 square kilometers, which accounts for nearly 6% of the entire county, is included in a designated area that includes the plant near Ripplemead and surrounding land, according to DEQ spokesman Aaron Proctor.
People are also reading…
Breathing sulfur dioxide has been linked to an array of adverse effects that include narrowing of the airways and increased asthma symptoms. The gas is also a primary contributor to acid rain, a memorandum to the board stated.
The plant is owned by Lhoist North America, which is a subsidiary of a Belgium-based global corporation.
“We have been working with Lhoist to bring them into compliance with air quality standards, and expect to have a final plan and permit for the facility in 2023,” Mike Dowd, DEQ’s air and renewable energy director, said in a news release from the agency.
Officials at the plant and its Texas-based office could not be reached for comment Thursday.
The Kimballton plant is currently the only industry in Virginia on the air pollution non-attainment list, which also includes nearly a dozen localities in Northern Virginia with high concentrations of ozone.
Lhoist began monitoring sulfur dioxide levels at the facility in 2017, according to DEQ.
Although the plant has since made improvements, more work is needed to comply with federal standards, “which in turn will protect public health and welfare in Giles County as well as the rest of the Commonwealth,” the memorandum to the board states.
In 2012, DEQ cited the Kimballton plant for violating air pollution standards. As part of an agreement, the company paid a fine of $27, 720.
An inspection found that on a single day, a smokestack from the kiln was releasing 0.438 pounds of particulate matter per ton of stone feed — nearly four times the 0.12 emission limit mandated by the state.
“We had that one exceedance, we took remedial action, and we believe the plant is now operating in compliance,” a company official said at the time.