BNA asks Metro to deny the expansion permit requests by APES and to discontinue operation by ORRCO

​May 14, 2017
 
 
Metro
Solid Waste Information Compliance & Cleanup
600 NE Grand Ave,
Portland, OR 97232
swicc@oregonmetro.gov
 
 
RE: Public comment
American Petroleum Environmental Services, Inc. solid waste facility license
Oil Re-Refining Company, Inc. solid waste facility license renewal
 
To Metro Administrators,
 
It is difficult to calculate how much toxic air that local residents in North and Northeast Portland breathe on a daily basis.  Diesel truck traffic, Portland International Raceway cars spewing exhaust and nearby industrial manufacturers on Swan Island all combine to pollute the air we breathe. Most of these polluters are hard to monitor except those required by DEQ and permitted for handling waste by Metro.
 
DEQ knows that the amount of poison emitted from APES and ORRCO, local businesses on Hayden Island that collect and refine oil for resale, are two of the worst offenders. In reprocessing used oil, these two companies emit more than 300 hazardous agents that threaten human health as well as the natural environment. Emission reports for these companies are continually not available to the public. 
 
Metro intervened in the past to halt some of ORRCO’s questionable practices because of inappropriate handling and storage of the used oil products they consolidate and reload. Please consider the policies and loopholes that allow these hazardous materials to be used in our neighborhood and transported through the Metro region.
 
We ask that Metro deny the expansion permit request by APES and the continued operation by ORRCO until such time as these companies considerably improve their handling of used oil products. The mutual agreement between DEQ and APES for its expansion plans are flawed and need to include technological improvements that can be monitored as well as more detailed plans to store and transport this waste.
 
Please deny these permit requests from APES and ORCCO.
 
 
Sincerely,
 
Karen Kane, Chair
Bridgeton Neighborhood Association Board