HOUSING ACT OF 1954 Air Pollution Prevention Amendment THURSDAY, APRIL 15, 1954 UNITED STATES SENATE, COMMITTEE ON BANKING AND CURRENCY, Washington, D. C. The committee met, pursuant to recess, at 10 a. m., in room 301, Senate Office Building, Senator Homer E. Capehart (chairman) presiding. Present: Senators Capehart, Payne, and Maybank. The CHAIRMAN. The committee will come to order. Suppose Mr. Charmbury, Mr. Coleman, Mr. Rothrock, Mr. Roth, Mr. Meeser, and Mr. Kowalshyn all come up and sit around this table. You are all from Pennsylvania, and you all have the same problem. Professor Charmbury, I believe you are going to do most of the talking. We are delighted to receive you gentlemen and delighted to have you here. Do you have a prepared statement? STATEMENT OF H. B. CHARMBURY, PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY, STATE COLLEGE, PA. Mr. CHARMBURY. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. Do you prefer to read it or would you like to have it placed in the record and talk from it? Mr. CHARMBURY. I prefer to discuss it. The CHAIRMAN. And then it will be placed in the record, if you wish. Do you have any other exhibits or any other prepared statements? If so, we will be delighted to place those in the record. Mr. CHARMBURY. I have some papers here that I would like to submit to the committee. The CHAIRMAN. Why don't you proceed in your own way and we will see if we can't learn something about this subject? Mr. CHARMBURY. Senator Capehart, I am chief of the division of mineral preparation and engineering in the College of Mineral Industries at the Pennsylvania State University. I have been engaged in the various technical phases of smoke and dust prevention and air pollution during the past 9 years, both as a member of the faculty of Pennsylvania State, and as a part-time consultant. I want to state that I have thoroughly examined yours and Senator Kuchel's smoke abatement and air pollution amendment to the ad 1237 ministration's Housing Act of 1954. I strongly recommend that it be approved by your committee. In spite of the fact that science and industry have made great advances during recent years, the air pollution problem still exists in many industrial areas. As a result, the property and, in some cases, the health of the people of the United States in these areas has suffered. Air pollution is not a local problem, as contaminants are carried over city, county, and State boundaries. I feel, therefore, that the Government should make every effort possible to help the people in the conservation of their health and property by aiding industry in the prevention of air pollution. Yours and Senator Kuchel's amendment to the Housing Act will do just that. I am quite familiar with an air pollution problem in one of the industrial areas in northern Pennsylvania. This problem will serve as an example as to how this amendment will aid the people, the local government, and industry. The primary industry in this particular area is concerned with the manufacture of cement, a process in which practically each step is a dust-forming operation. From the crushing of the original minerals to the packaging of the final product, there is dust formation in about every operation. Some time ago, a survey was made in 1 of the communities in this area in which there are 4 cement plants in the immediate vicinity to determine the amount of dustfall. The results indicated that over 4,000 tons of dust fell in every square mile of this community in a year's time. The CHAIRMAN. Four thousand tons? Mr. CHARMBURY. Over 4,000 tons. I might point out that the average for Pittsburgh last year was around 600 or 700 tons per square mile. That is in Pittsburgh. The people in this community didn't need a dust survey to tell them they had an air pollution problem. They realized that by the time and effort and expense involved in sweeping up the dust, in scrubbing their porches, and in painting and repainting their houses. The people of the community then applied pressure on their local council to enact air pollution legislation which would force the cement companies to provide adequate dust collection facilities. Counsel brought suit against several of the companies and some changes were made, but not to everyone's satisfaction. Counsel then employed me as a consultant to investigate the efforts that were actually being made by the companies to aid in the dust collection problem. I made the survey, reported the results, and made certain recommendations. I would like to submit a copy of that report for the record, along with some other matters. The CHAIRMAN. Without objection, it will be made a part of the record. (The report and material referred to follow :) Cement dust which fell in the borough of Nazareth from Dec. 7, 1946 (10 a. m.), to Dec. 9, 1946 (10 a. m.) [Total of 48 hours. Samples were taken from 3 different sites.] CEMENT DUST SURVEY IN BOROUGH REVEALS ASTRONOMICAL FIGURES-0.98 POUNDS OF DUST DEPOSITED PER HUNDRED FEET IN 48 HOURS-232,5 TONS DEPOSITED IN TOWN EVERY 48 HOURS Many citizens of town became very conscious of cement dust deposits throughout the borough recently, causing the necessity of sweeping the pavements 2 and 3 times daily and the homemaker busy with the dust rag within. So evident was the dust all about town that the services of the borough engineer were sought and a survey made at the direction of the complainants. According to this survey, made the 7th day of December, last Saturday, by the borough engineer at three different locations within the borough, the following figures may provoke further interest in this time-old contention. In the survey samples of dust were collected from the pavement in front of the Nazareth Tool & Supply Co., the Broad Street Theater and corner of Center and New Streets. The collection from the pavement of the Nazareth Tool & Supply Co. weighed 1.5 pounds per 100 feet, from the Broad Street Theater pavement 0.625 pounds per 100 feet and the corner of Center and New Streets 0.81 pounds per 100 feet, an average of 0.98 pounds per 100 feet. Using the average figures to compute overall averages, the survey shows that the town gets an average of 436 pounds of dust per acre, or the town's 1,075 acres is sprayed with 468,333 pounds every 48 hours; 468,333 pounds of dust is equal to 232.5 tons, or more than 1,245 barrels. Using an arbitrary figure of one-half cent per pound, Nazareth gets approximately $2,341.67 worth of dust every 48 hours, with favoring winds. Thus, with an average of approximately $1,170.88 worth of dust every day, the housewives of Nazareth dust and sweep away approximately $8,196.16 worth of pure gold every week, or $426,200.32 every year. This figure appropriated to at least three rightful owners and producers of the dust product would net each plant $142,066.77 annually. It was announced by this local survey committee that while these figures are arbitrary, they portray a mighty close picture of the truth of the cement dust nuisance. The survey committee further stated that an analysis of the dust collected at but three different locations would very likely prove of valuable cement content and also show a mixture of several brands, together with foreign matter. The specimens collected, and now being collected daily, are kept by the committee for future study and further consideration, it was announced. To the Citizens of Nazareth: Your town council and chief burgess are cognizant of the increased menace of cement dust to our community. We are aware of the fact that many of our citizens and businessmen are conducting their own surveys relative to the amount of cement dust inflicted on our town. The harm by cement dust has been the talk of the town. We believe this nuisance can be abated and toward this end we shall work together. This acknowledgment is not meant to appease the enthusiasm of our citizens in in this effort but rather for the purpose of informing the people of Nazareth that we share in their opinion and invite their full cooperation. WALTER L. PETERS, Chief Burgess. Mr. CHARMBURY. I found that the companies, in most cases, were cooperative and willing to do whatever they could within their financial means. The collection of dust is an expensive operation. It requires expensive equipment, and in most cases, it represents a high operating cost. Naturally, the companies returned the collected dust to their process, so there is some return on the operation. As a result of the survey, and as a result of the continued pressure by the people of the community, the companies have made some additional improvements, but still more improvements are physically possible. At the present time, another survey is being conducted to determine once again the amount of dust fall in the same community, to see what improvements have been made, and to determine the extent of the improvements. More recently, other communities in the same area have followed suit and are now planning to have surveys made to determine the dust fall in their communities. I mentioned previously that even more improvements are physically possible. For example, it would be possible in most cases to place additional collectors in the process, and thereby remove an additional portion of the dust which is now being blown over the surrounding areas. But companies consider this to be too great a hardship from an economic standpoint. However, with the help that the companies could receive through this amendment, the hardship would be somewhat relieved and it may be possible that the companies would be somewhat to increase their dust-collection facilities. At least the council would be less hesitant about going ahead and enacting legislation requiring the maximum available in dust-collection equipment. I would like to point out at this time that even though these companies, or others in other industries, would have the best equipment available on the market today, the air-pollution problem would not be completely solved. There is still much to be desired of commercial equipment, but this can only be accomplished through research. Fortunately, this amendment provides a substantial sum of money for this type of basic research. Again, I would like to emphasize that the illustration I used above to show how this amendment could help the people, local government and industry in solving air-pollution problems is only one of numerous examples that could be cited as arising in different geographical areas and involving many different industries. Therefore, I sincerely believe that by putting into practice the provisions as outlined in this amendment, that both the citizens of industrial areas and industry, itself, will profit greatly, and the industrial areas will become a healthier and more valuable place in which to live. That concludes my statement. The CHAIRMAN. You feel confident the cities and local subdivisions of government will cooperate with the Federal Government if we can. pass such legislation as we are talking about? Mr. CHARMBURY. I feel that the local governments will be very happy to cooperate with the Federal Government. (The following report was submitted for the record:) A REPORT ON THE ATMOSPHERIC POLLUTION PROBLEM IN AND AROUND THE BOROUGH OF NORTHAMPTON, PA. By H. B. Charmbury SUMMARY The dust situation in and around the borough of Northampton, Pa., has been studied. This has been done by visual observations and by examining reports of previous investigations. The observations and reports have indicated that the dust fall is exceptionally heavy and that the dust originates primarily from the cement plants in the immediate vicinity of the borough. A survey of the dust collecting facilities in the cement plants has been conducted to determine the efforts being made by the individual companies to control their dust. The survey has revealed the number of collectors in each plant and the type of collector at the various locations in the plant flow. The author's opinions of the prevailing dust conditions in each of the four plants are presented and recommendations are given to assist the borough council, the citizens of the community, and the companies in correcting the overall dust situation. INTRODUCTION The borough of Northampton has a very serious dust problem. This is evident by the general appearance of the streets and houses within the borough, by an examination of the trees and other vegetation in the area surrounding the borough, and by the scientific tests conducted under the supervision of Mr. William G. Christy, consulting engineer from Jersey City, N. J. The Christy tests indicated that the deposition of dust within the borough, expressed in terms of tons of dustfall per year per square mile area, is higher than that of any other city in the country. Chemical analyses performed by the Allentown Testing Laboratory, Inc., on the dust samples collected by Christy further revealed that most of the dust was the same as that used during the manufacture of cement. Since there are four cement plants located in and around the borough, it is quite logical to state that the dust deposited in the borough originates, for the most part, from any one or all of these plants. It should also be pointed out, however, that there are about 8 cement plants in an area of 30 square miles surrounding the borough and about 17 plants within a hundred square mile area. All of these plants may contribute, to a small extent, to the dust situation within the borough but it is safe to assume that most of the cement dust originates from the local plants. CEMENT MANUFACTURING-A DUST-FORMING OPERATION The manufacture of cement is a dust-forming operation and the complete elimination of dirt and dust during the manufacturing process is virtually impossible. From the time the raw materials enter the plant until the finished product leaves the plant each operation of materials handling is a dust-forming process. The screening, crushing, conveying, and blending of certain raw materials, the drying of the blend and other raw materials, the grinding of the dried materials, the clinkering of the ground materials, the cooling of the clinker, the mixing and grinding of still other raw materials with the cooled clinker, and the bagging and bulk loading of the final product are all dust-forming processes. Consequently, the control of dust requires a great deal of equipment, time, and expense. Grinding operations in the manufacture of cement reduces the size of the particles so that about 90 to 95 percent are smaller than three-thousandths of an inch. The tendency of particles this size to get into suspension in air is great and ability of commercial dust collectors to remove particles of this size from suspension in air is small. Thus, the problem is a mean one and a very difficult one from a technical standpoint. Of all the dust-forming operations mentioned above, the clinkering of the ground materials is the most serious and the one most likely to form dust to be carried in air and deposited in the area surrounding the plant. In this process the ground raw materials enter one end of a long rotating circular tube or kiln and pulverized coal is blown into the other end and burned to cause the high temperatures necessary for the chemical and physical reactions. The hot combustion gases with the ash from the coal and some of the raw materials then |