Stricter emission guidelines have been approved by the Californian air-quality management agency to regulate arsenic and other toxic substances from lead-acid battery recycling plants.
The revised targets mean Exide Technologies’ Vernon, CA, smelter plant and Quemetco’s battery recycling plant in Industry, CA, must adhere to new requirements from the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD). The restrictions limit arsenic emissions to 11.3 kg per year until 2015 and 4.5 kg per year thereafter. Benzine emissions must be limited to 204 kg per year. The ambient concentration of arsenic cannot exceed 10 nanograms per cubic meter.
In a statement officials from Exide said they are confident of reaching the requirements: “Exide is making significant investments to upgrade the recycling facility, comply with regulatory limits and protect public health. The company generally supports the new rule for arsenic that [AQMD] is considering and believes it will be able to achieve the new limit.”
The Exide plant was shut down for two months in 2013 following concerns over public health, safety and the environment. When it reopened it had made pollution-control upgrades and argued the company would be damaged if supply of lead from the smelter was cut off.
Fierce public outcry has put Exide in the environmental spotlight for several years. The company has pledged to spend $7m on upgrades to the recycling plant.
The plant has been run by Exide since 1981 and has been at the centre of environmental concerns over lead in the surrounding area since 1999 when high traces were found in storm drains close to the plant.
