Further, Eastman was the subject of a federal enforcement action in 2011; the order that resolved that action required Eastman to comply with a comprehensive testing and permitting process that has been ongoing for more than eight years.
On Oct. 11, 2019, GASP formally appealed an installation permit issued by ACHD for the Water White Poly Process Unit at Eastman’s plant. The installation permit purportedly was to comply with the court order that resolved the 2011 enforcement action and to authorize changes to, and increased production by, the processing unit.
GASP appealed the installation permit because it did not include applicable requirements imposed by Subpart FFFF of the National Emission Standard for Hazardous Air Pollutants, which applies to “Miscellaneous Organic Chemical Manufacturing” (“Subpart FFFF”).
Both the Clean Air Act and ACHD’s own regulations require sources to comply with all applicable National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants.
Indeed, ACHD omitted the applicable requirements from Eastman’s installation permit despite acknowledgments by both ACHD and Eastman that the processing unit was in fact subject to those requirements.
We are happy to report that as a result of our appeal, ACHD has revised the installation permit for the Water White Poly Process Unit so that it expressly requires Eastman to operate that unit in compliance with all applicable provisions of Subpart FFFF. Obviously, this should prevent Eastman from attempting any argument that those provisions do not apply to it because they were omitted from its permit.
-John Baillie, GASP Staff Attorney