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Occidental Chemical
Pottstown, PA


Approximately 31,000 people live within 2 miles of Occidental Chemical in Pottstown. There are 25 SCHOOLS and day-care centers within 2 miles of Occidental. The Pottstown Hospital is ½ mile from Occidental. Thousands of people work in professional buildings and businesses in the immediate vicinity of Occidental. Many of us travel through Occidental’s emissions every day in our daily activities.

Occidental is bordered on three sides by the Schuylkill River. Occidental’s hazardous emissions, including their extremely dangerous air emissions, jeopardize the water in the Schuylkill River. These hazardous air emissions could make outdoor activities hazardous to our health.

Occidental does its own testing, monitoring, and reporting of its hazardous emissions to air and water to EPA’s Toxic Release Inventory. ACE is reporting Occidental’s hazardous emissions from the Scorecard’s website. Scorecard gathers and reports EPA’s Toxic Release Inventory data.

Most threatening to the health of people in this region are Occidental’s hazardous air emissions of VINYL CHLORIDE. Occidental is among the largest emitters of vinyl chloride air releases in the nation. Vinyl chloride is an extremely potent carcinogen. Vinyl chloride also damages the immune and nervous system, causes reproductive effects by inhalation, can result in permanent liver damage as well as liver tumors and liver cancer.

We are exposed to other hazardous air emissions every year from Occidental’s production processes. It is important to recognize that all these hazardous emissions pose various and serious kinds of health threats to the people exposed to them. We are exposed through the air we breathe, as well as through our skin, in addition to what we drink and eat.

Occidental is a PVC (poly vinyl chloride) plant. PVC is known as the poison plastic because it poses serious threats to human health and the environment. When PVC is produced or burned, DIOXIN is created. Dioxin is one of the most toxic chemicals ever produced yet neither DEP nor EPA has ever tested or monitored Occidental for dioxin. PVC is a primary contributor to the U.S. dioxin burden.

Occidental asked DEP to triple its hazardous air emissions from its boilers to burn toxic landfill gas as fuel. In addition to the 310% request for hazardous air emission increases, Oxy completely ignored radiation in POTTSTOWN LANDFILL gas, heavy metals, and the by-product of DIOXIN from burning landfill gas. Review the fact sheet on Occidental’s hazardous emissions. Look at the HEALTH RISKS associated with these emissions. Aren’t our risks from Occidental’s hazardous air emissions bad enough already?

DEP ignored all the evidence of harm and issued a permit to Occidental to further pollute the air, land, and water around the Occidental plant. This extremely dangerous concentration of some of the most hazardous substances known to mankind will consequently further jeopardize the health, safety, and quality of life for the tens of thousands of people around and downwind of Occidental’s emissions.










ACE
P.O. Box 3063
Stowe, PA 19464
ace@acereport.org






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