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U.S. EPA PROPOSES REVISED AIR PERMIT FOR CAMPO LANDFILL

Release Date: 5/13/1995
Contact Information: Bill Glenn, U.S. EPA, (415) 744-1589

(San Francisco)--The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(U.S. EPA) has issued a revised draft air quality permit for
construction and operation of a solid waste landfill on the
reservation of the Campo Band of the Mission Indians in eastern
San Diego County.  The proposed permit was revised from an
earlier draft to include controls on emissions of particulate
matter at the landfill.

     U.S. EPA will hold two public hearings on the revised draft
permit in Campo, Calif., on Tuesday, June 6.  A 2 p.m. hearing
will be held at the Campo Tribal Building, 36190 Church Road, and
a 7 p.m. hearing will be held at the Campo Community Center, 999
Sheridan Road.  At 12:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m, immediately before
the hearing at each location, U.S. EPA will provide an overview
of the revisions to the earlier draft permit, followed by a brief
question and answer period.

     The Clean Air Act requires that potential major sources of
certain air pollutants reduce their emissions as much as possible
to prevent significant deterioration of air quality.  The draft
permit being proposed today expands upon a draft permit issued
for public comment in May 1994 that limited emissions of volatile
organic compounds (VOCs) from the landfill.  Since that time,
U.S. EPA determined that it is necessary to control emissions of
fine particulate matter as well as VOCs.  The determination
followed an appeals board ruling in an unrelated permit case.

     The primary source of particulate emissions at the landfill
would be from truck travel on paved and unpaved roads at the
site.  U.S. EPA has determined that without controls, the
proposed landfill has the potential to emit about 56 tons per
year of particulate matter.  Through the use of road cleaning,
dust suppression and speed limits, the permit will reduce
particulate emissions by almost 85%, to about 9.2 tons per year.

     Particulate matter includes dust, smoke, fly ash and
condensing vapors that can be suspended in the air for long
periods of time.  When inhaled, these microscopic particles can
lodge in the lungs and affect respiratory function.  Chronic
exposure to high levels of particulate matter can cause
respiratory disease, lung damage and possibly premature death.
Young people, the elderly, and people with heart or lung disease
(such as asthma) are especially at risk.

     The revised permit contains only slight changes to the VOC
controls that the Agency originally proposed in 1994.  U.S. EPA
has determined that without controls, the proposed landfill has
the potential to emit 380 tons per year of VOCs when creation of
landfill gas by decomposition reaches a peak after about 30 years
of landfill operation.  Use of gas collection systems and flares
as required by the draft permit will reduce total VOC emissions
by about 90%, to approximately 39 tons per year.

     VOCs react with sunlight in the atmosphere to form ground-
level ozone, or smog.  High ozone concentrations can impair
breathing, irritate mucous membranes in the nose and throat, and
may have depressive effects on the body's immune system.

     U.S. EPA encourages interested parties to submit comments on
the revisions made to the original draft permit.  Copies of the
revised draft permit and the air quality impact report can be
obtained at the Campo Environmental Protection Agency, 36190
Church Road, Suite 4, Campo, Calif., 91906; or from Barbara
Witter, U.S. EPA Region 9 (A-5-1), 75 Hawthorne St., San
Francisco, Calif., 94105, (415) 744-1245.  Copies can also be
viewed at the Campo Public Library and at U.S. EPA Region 9's
library in San Francisco.

     Written comments should be submitted to Barbara Witter at
the above address in time to be received by June 21.  Commentors
at the June 6 public hearings are encouraged to bring written
copies of their full testimony to the hearing.  

     Under separate authority of the Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act (RCRA), U.S. EPA announced on April 13 its approval
of the Campo Band's municipal solid waste landfill regulatory
program.  That action gave the Campo EPA the authority to enforce
the requirements of RCRA, which applies primarily to solid waste.
U.S. EPA will continue to be responsible for enforcing the Clean
Air Act on tribal land.


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