City of Alexandria, Virginia
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MEMORANDUM
DATE: MAY 8, 2013
TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL
FROM: RASHAD M. YOUNG, CITY MANAGER /s/
DOCKET TITLE:
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Consideration of a Resolution Opposing the Issuance of a Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (VDEQ) Air Permit for the Norfolk Southern Ethanol Transloading Facility. [ROLL-CALL VOTE]
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ISSUE: Consideration of a resolution opposing the VDEQ's issuance of an Air Permit for the Norfolk Southern Ethanol Transloading Facility necessitated by a proposed increase in the number of tank cars to be off-loaded at the facility and urging an extensive period of public outreach and comment.
RECOMMENDATION: That City Council:
- Adopt the attached resolution strongly opposing the issuance of the proposed VDEQ Air Permit for the Norfolk Southern Ethanol Transloading Facility, provided as
Attachment 1; and
- Direct the City Manager to develop comments in opposition to the permit, submit those to VDEQ as part of the public comment period, and work with VDEQ staff to facilitate as much time as possible and increased opportunity for the public to comment; and
- Direct the City Manager and the City Attorney to explore if there are any other means to prevent this facility expansion; and
- Transmit this resolution to the City's federal and state legislative delegations and request their assistance in this matter.
DISCUSSION: The City received a notification from the VDEQ that, at the request of Norfolk Southern, it has prepared a draft air quality permit related to the operation of the Norfolk Southern (NS) ethanol transloading facility located in Alexandria. Please find attached e-mail from VDEQ dated May 3, 2013 and the draft permit (Attachment 2).
Based on the information provided by the VDEQ, the Norfolk Southern proposal and permit request seeks an increase in the number of rail cars offloaded at its facility from the current 14 to 30 cars per day. The facility was previously exempted from VDEQ's air permitting requirements due to the relatively low number of tank cars off-loaded. However, the new projected number of tank cars to be off-loaded exceeds the threshold at which a permit is required, triggering the requirement for an air permit.
The City has already sent a letter to the Northern Regional Office of VDEQ (Attachment 3) to request formally that a public informational meeting and public hearing be held in the City of Alexandria for this draft permit. This will enable the City and its residents to voice their opinion regarding this permit. This information has also been distributed to appropriate staff within the City and they have started their initial review of the permit.
FISCAL IMPACT: None.
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment 1- Proposed Resolution
Attachment 2 -Email and Draft Air Permit from VDEQ
Attachment 3 -Letter from City Manager to VDEQ regarding public comment process
STAFF:
James Bank, City Attorney
Mark Jinks, Deputy City Manager
Jerome Fletcher, Special Assistant to the City Manager
Richard J. Baier, P.E., LEED AP, Director, T&ES
Adam Thiel, Fire Chief, City of Alexandria
William Skrabak, Deputy Director, T&ES
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