“Has the existing plant exceeded its safe operating life and thus poses a health hazard to the community, what is the technical data/evidence to substantiate the conclusion on either side? This evidence should include data that show or do not show pollution of the water, air or soil caused by the existing plant; irreparable damage to the plant, etc.” This is according to Senior Executive Service employee with the United States of America (USA) Government Department of Energy (DOE); internationally recognized environmental scientist and engineer, Dr. Vincent Adams.

Dr. Adams is a key leader of the world’s oldest and largest organization of environmental professionals with over 10,000 members; 35 years environmental experience who currently heads the $8 billion environmental cleanup of one of the world’s largest cleanup projects. He led the engineering and technology department at DOE in leading many Universities and national laboratories in developing new science and technologies for environmental remediation; consultant to a major international Agency developing international standards and guidance documents for environmental cleanup; chaired two major international environmental conferences in recent years; hold a PhD in Environmental Engineering and two MS degrees, with specialties in air pollution control, groundwater hydrology and petroleum, geological and civil engineering.

The Public Works Department, a department that falls under the Ministry of Communications and Works, noted in its 2011 report that the current industrial asphalt plant that was bought in 1986 has become financially exhaustive to constantly repair and maintain and most importantly, it has become an environmental hazard as it emits toxic fumes into the air. It says that the current location of the plant is no longer feasible as the landowners have requested that the plant be removed from their property and that the plant is extremely rundown and will not survive being relocated.

The report was laid in the House of Assembly on December 17, 2012 by Minister for Communications and Works Hon. Mark H. Vanterpool. 

The plant is critical for the execution of the department’s mandate in repairing and maintaining the territory’s infrastructure, a request was made to secure funding to purchase a new plant. The report said a document has been submitted to the government including a proposal to relocate the asphalt operations to an alternative location noting that the PWD’s estimated cost of procuring the new plant is about $1million.

Dr. Adams suggested to this news agency that any new plant or repairs to the existing plant for continued operation should be designed to the internationally recognized state of the art technology. He said that the new facility should be vetted through a transparent process with public meetings, hearings and input throughout the design and permitting process.

“The proposed design and operation must be permitted and rigorously monitored, including frequent inspections and continuous oversight by a capable and technically competent environmental protection agency with the right expertise,” said Dr. Adams, adding that after construction and before operation, the plant must undergo testing with real material under proposed operating conditions to prove that it could operate and maintain safe levels of emissions; and these tests should be conducted on scheduled intervals to be determined by international standards. “The operating parameters and emission standards should be no less rigorous than internationally established safe and environmentally sound standards,” he cautioned.

“Asphalt processing and asphalt roofing manufacturing facilities are major sources of hazardous air pollutants such as formaldehyde, hexane, phenol, polycyclic organic matter, and toluene. Exposure to these air toxics may cause cancer, central nervous system problems, liver damage, respiratory problems and skin irritation," Dr. Adams said as he spoke of the health aspects. He added that many studies have claimed that some of the other most toxic chemicals such as benzene, arsenic, mercury, chromium and cadmium, are also associated with pollutants being emitted from the operation of asphalt plants. The safety and health impacts concerning the operation of asphalt plants continue to engender very high degrees of controversy and emotions in many communities throughout the world.

In the expressed opinion of Dr. Adams asphaltic plants do produce carcinogenic fumes and particles that are emitted into the atmosphere. However, the question remains as to what are deemed to be the safe levels of emissions for each of these substances. Some continue to argue that there is no level that is safe – in other words, there should be “zero emissions”, while others contend that it is unrealistic to not have an ‘acceptable level” of risk, when weighed against the economics that the construction and operation of the plant in the form of jobs and money circulation, and also the fact that these substances are naturally present in nature anyway.

“As the country debates this issue, the decision makers owe it to the citizens to carry out their responsibilities on this issue in a responsible manner to ensure that the decisions are based upon strong science and engineering and not on emotions and personal interest and politics,” stated Dr. Adams.

He noted that in order to ensure that the above are satisfied, the responsible action by the decision makers must be that they convene a team of internationally recognized experts to advise and develop guidance and mentorship and training to local personnel for the long term operation. They should be mature enough to recognize that this is a highly technical and complex problem that is outside of their realm of expertise. Responsible leadership demands that they seek help when help is needed as in this case.