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State & local air quality regulators tour asphalt plants to get an up-close view of operations, environmental controls
Above: Tracy Zubek (left) explains the operation of the DeSilva Gates materials laboratory in Sunol.
Above: Matt Eala (pointing) conducts part of the briefing inside the plant's control room.
By Russell W. Snyder, CAE
The inner workings of an asphalt plant are unlike any other industrial facility, which is why no amount of animation, verbal explanations or published studies can take the place of actually seeing one in operation.
CalAPA’s educational mission extends to helping communities, elected representatives and regulators better understand how modern asphalt plants function, and the myriad of environmental controls and best practices that help them operate safely and in harmony with the communities they serve.
A group of air quality regulators from the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and the San Francisco Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) recently got an up-close demonstration of these principles courtesy of CalAPA member DeSilva Gates Materials. Virtual technologies were used to give another group of regulators from the South Coast Air Quality Management District a similar experience, courtesy of CalAPA member Sully-Miller Co. In both instances, regulators found the experience to be illuminating.
The tour of the state-of-theart DeSilva Gates asphalt and aggregates operation in Sunol took place March 3, just prior to COVID-19 travel restrictions, and was attended by five representatives of CARB and nine representatives of the BAAQMD, which has local jurisdiction over the plant. The DeSilva Gates operation off the 680 Freeway in Alameda County is about 17 miles north of the center of San Jose and 32 miles southeast of San Francisco, yet operates in harmony with nearby wildlife corridors and watershed. The facility visit and orientation took place prior to restrictions put in place by public health officials in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The tour was an outgrowth of ongoing discussions between the CalAPA Environmental Committee and Bay Area regulators over permitting and enforcement
issues. CalAPA outlined the industry's chief concerns in a letter to the BAAQMD in 2018, which triggered subsequent meetings with air district executive management.
In the interest of knowledgesharing, CalAPA offered to coordinate an educational tour of an asphalt plant for regulators, and DeSilva Gates volunteered to host.
The three-hour visit was a more intensive version of tours CalAPA has coordinated for elected officials and other state and local agency representatives over the years, and placed special emphasis on the many environmental controls at the facility, including blue-smoke controls, low NOx burners, mist eliminators and the use of water for dust-control. Haul roads have been paved to further reduce dust track-out, and the plant features cutting-edge seismic safety strengthening supporting its six, 300-ton asphalt storage silos.
The tour group, which included members of the CalAPA Environmental Committee, was split in two and alternated between a walk-through of the materials laboratory, conducted by Quality Control Manager Tracy Zubek, and then a visit to the control tower, asphalt production, storage and loading area, led by Matt Eala. The agency representatives expressed appreciation for the comprehensive briefing and the detailed answers to all of their questions. All participants received environmental-related briefing materials provided by CalAPA. "The Bay Area Air Quality Management District is committed to the highest standards of engineering in its emissions control programs," said Damian Breen, BAAQMD Deputy Air Pollution Control Officer, who was one of the participants of the tour. "Site visits like the one at DeSilva
DeSilva Gates asphalt plant in Sunol was the site for the tour.
Gates in Sunol allow our team to get an up-close look at the equipment we regulate, to interact with our industry partners and to exchange information in a way that benefits everyone."
Ben Sehgal with CARB, who has conducted training sessions on asphalt plants in the past, proclaimed the tour "fantastic," adding: "It is a stellar plant with state-of-the-art controls. Whether you are incompliance or writing a permit, you've got to know how stuff works in the field."
Frank Costa, General Manager of DeSilva Gates Materials, said it is his company's philosophy to share best practices for the betterment of the industry, and he appreciates that other CalAPA members also feel the same way. "This is a cultural belief at our company that I think is good for the industry in general," he said. "I believe in sharing because, at the end of the day, you build a better mousetrap, you get better information, it's good for the industry."
That view was shared by another member of the CalAPA Environmental Committee, Brent Leclerc, manager of Environmental Services for Vulcan Materials, Western Division.
Frank Costa (second from the right) conducts a pre-tour safety briefing and site orientation.
"It was a good visit. I appreciate the time and effort DeSilva Gates put into this. I think if we continue to have these types of knowledgesharing, knowledge-transfer activities, it can only help with reinforcing that we're all working toward the same thing." Vulcan Materials has also hosted plant tours, including one in Southern California for Gavin Newsom shortly before he was elected governor.
Following the tour, Environmental Committee Co-Chair Scott Taylor, owner of Taylor Environmental Services, said, "I was really impressed with the number of people that the Bay Area dedicated to coming out here, everyone from the very top all the way down to the permitting engineers. I think it shows a real commitment on their part to follow-through on what they committed to, and I think it is a good starting point for our continuing work with the Bay Area and helping them understand what the challenges are."
The CalAPA Environmental Committee is seeking to form an industry-agency task force with the BAAQMD to delve more deeply in permitting processes and difficulties in the hopes of identifying opportunities for improvement. The tour, Taylor said, is an example of engagement that "lends credibility to the Environmental Committee and allows us to have access to all the different people we do at all the various agencies. It shows that we are a unified front and that we've got things that we'd like to address as a group, and that helps all of us."
On July 22, with coronavirus pandemic restrictions firmly in place across California, CalAPA member Sully-Miller hosted a “virtual” plant tour for South Coast Air Quality Management District regulators at the company’s Sun Valley plant. CalAPA Environmental Committee Co-Chair Scott Taylor with Taylor Environmental Services and longtime Environmental Committee participant Ken Barker with SullyMiller conducted the tour that was attended by six SCAQMD officials, including Susan Nakamura, Assistant Deputy Executive Officer, and Michael Krause, manager of the oversees various programs that pertain to asphalt plants.
“After waiting and trying to figure out a way to conduct a site visit in person, it became obvious that SCAQMD was continuing with rule development and a virtual tour was the best way to provide the first-hand information they needed for their work,” Taylor said.
As Barker conducted a live walk-through of the plant, filmed by his fellow Sully-Miller co-worker William Quach, the regulators asked numerous questions via a chat box and the questions were answered in real-time by Barker and Taylor.
Afterward, Krause called the tour a “shining example” of transparency and industry-regulator educational collaboration. The air district covers air quality regulation for a sprawling area that includes Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Other SCAQMD staff who attended the tour included Shannon Lee, senior air quality engineer; Gary Quinn, program supervisor; and air quality specialists Yanrong Zhu and Steve Tsumura.
The tour coordination team included CalAPA Regional Director Bill Knopf and Suzanne Seivright-Sutherland, director of local governmental affairs for the California Construction & Industrial Materials Association (CalCIMA), assisted by CalCIMA’s Adam Harper, director of policy analysis. In an after-action report, Seivright-Sutherland wrote: “This was the first virtual plant tour South Coast AQMD participated in, and their team expressed significant accolades for the excellent job the Sully Miller team executed!”
Various educational materials were assembled for the regulators in advance of the tour, which was meant to inform the air district as
Left: The start of the virtual plant tour July 22 with industry and staff from the South Coast Air Quality Management District. Right: Ken Barker, Environmental Manager for CalAPA member Sully-Miller, conducts a live “virtual” plant tour of the company’s Sun Valley facility July 22, using a pointing stick repurposed from a fruit picking pole.
it proposes changes to Rule 1147.1 “NOx Reduction from Equipment at Aggregate Facilities” rulemaking group. Commented Barker after the tour: “I think we have opened up a new door with these virtual tours. We can make life easier for industry and the agencies to understand what we do and how we do it.” In addition to cuttingedge virtual technologies, Barker used an old-school pointing tool repurposed from a fruit picker pole. “We are adapting because of COVID-19,” he said. “With a pointer like that, you can make darn sure people know what you are talking about.” CA
Russell W. Snyder, CAE, is executive director of the California Asphalt Pavement Association. CalAPA Regional Director William Knopf contributed to this article.
REFERENCES:
Taylor, S. (2015) “DeSilva Gates Expands Their Sunol Aggregate Quarry with a New Asphalt Plant.” California Asphalt, Vol. 19, Issue 4, PP 10-12. California Asphalt Pavement Association.
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