Lauren Poe on the subject of Koppers
I am excerpting the questions and answers that took place between Commissioner Poe and I just yesterday. I will withhold my comments at this time.
1. Is there some legal barrier to a local governmental body that keeps them from shutting it down?
Answer: In essence yes, there is a legal barrier. That barrier has to do with body of evidence necessary to declare the site a “public nuisance” and have it shut down. In order to do this, we must have evidence that the current operations of the facility cause a public nuisance. Such evidence might include codes violations from noise, or air, water or soil pollution caused from current operations. We have asked for all citations, complaints or findings of evidence from the county health of environmental departments that would give us an opportunity to proceed in a court of law. We have been provided with almost nothing that would help us make this case. You may be able to help with this via your blog. Encourage residents to call in noise violations and report all complaints to the proper authority.
In the future, if the county or state health department or environmental protection departments are able to show that the current operations are causing a nuisance we will move forward with shutting them down with all deliberate speed. I have attached a memo from the city attorney describing some of what I have just relayed to you.
2. Is there a statute of limitations for when that could be done?
Answer: Not really. Since the evidence must be related to current operations, the case would have to be tied to what is happening now, not what happened in the past. Past activities and the resulting pollution are covered by the Superfund law and governed by the EPA. This law was severely weekend under the previous administration, but has been injected with a renewed purpose under the current president. I am hopeful that this will move the process along much more effectively.
3. Who has oversight of the problem?
The main person in charge of this process is Scott Miller of the Atlanta branch of the EPA. His contact information is (404) 562-9120, miller.scott@epa.gov.
4. Who is monitoring the spread of the pollution?
There are several entities involved. GRU has been primarily responsible for monitoring the migration of the pollutants through groundwater system, mainly keeping an eye on migration towards our well field. The Department of Health is investigating the surface soil migration and is continuing to determine the ultimate spread of contaminants. The Water Management District issues their storm water permit and has asked Koppers to provide additional information to their most recent application before reissuing their permit. I believe that the site has a grossly inadequate storm water infrastructure in place and it is my hope that the water management district shares this view.







