"Had this been in a white area, let's be realistic, this would never happen. We don't deserve this type of business next to us and this community is going to stand up for every right due to us," Almeda said.
Margaret Mora, regional director for the Colorado Progressive Coalition, called on City Council to shut down L.B. Foster's operation and enforce zoning codes that would keep such industrial uses from mingling with existing neighborhoods.
She also called on the state health department to continue exploring why the company doesn't have the stormwater runoff permits required to do business.
Mora provided a copy of a letter from Kathleen Rosow, an environmental protection specialist with the state Department of Public Health and Environment, addressed to L.B. Foster's Jim Rodgers informing him that the department has no record of the business applying for, or obtaining, a discharge permit for the facility. The letter states that an application for a permit should have been completed before Oct. 1, 1992, and that L.B. Foster now was required to apply for a permit by July 6.
State health department spokesman Mike Salley said the department was under the impression the property was simply a storage facility and therefore did not need any permits.
It wasn't until recently that the health department discovered that the property was a manufacturing facility.
At its Peppersauce operation, L.B. Foster builds segments of railroad track used as patches on bridges and along railroad lines that need immediate repair.
Bart W. Peterson, L.B. Foster's general manager of operations in Pueblo, issued a written statement Wednesday saying the company has completed all the paperwork for the stormwater discharge permit and that it "has always sought to conduct its operations in compliance with applicable laws."
"Only recently have certain neighbors complained about our operations," Peterson wrote. "In an effort to be a good neighbor, L.B. Foster planted trees, implemented dust control measures and performed a variety of other tasks to accommodate our neighbors."
Salley said the permit application was received on time and approved.
The state health department now must review the company's stormwater management plan and implementation procedures.
"It's probably premature to say they're in compliance with the permit," Salley said.
Heather Maio, director of environmental health for the Pueblo City-County Health Department, said her staff regularly tests the area's air for odors and has found no violation of the state's odor standard. But, she added, a person still can smell the creosote in the air.
Maio said the department probably will continue to monitor the air for odors.
Michael Wenstrom, regional coordinator of the environmental justice program for the EPA, said the agency did numerous soil samples from most of the neighborhood yards last spring.
"With the exception of what appeared to be some personal uses, nothing triggered our action levels," Wenstrom said. "There were a few yards where people might have changed their oil or there was a historic use that may have had an effect, but there was nothing that residents needed to concern themselves with."
Mora said that while tests may suggest that everything is within reasonable levels, the fact that contaminants are even present should be cause for concern.
"Really, for us, that's beside the point," she said. "No one really knows what kind of long-term effects are going to result from (L.B. Foster's operation)."
Mora added that the neighbors simply want the business gone.
The City-County Health Department also suggests the company consider moving.
In a June 12 letter to the company, Maio suggested that while the property is zoned for industrial use, its proximity to residences and the apparent difficulties storing so many railroad ties at once indicates that moving to a new location might be the best option for everyone involved.
The company opened a second, separate operation at the Pueblo Memorial Airport Industrial Park last year and received money from the half-cent sales tax for economic development to do so.
Peterson's statement mentions the possibility of moving, saying that "the company is optimistic that it will find a suitable space."
That could be welcoming news to the residents, but Mora added that any move should be at the company's own expense.
"The City Council awarded $260,000 toward a second, separate operation at the airport and it's our understanding that Foster would like to purchase adjacent property," she said. "They should have to move and clean up on their own dime."
City Manager David Galli said the city hasn't had any request from L.B. Foster to spend half-cent money to move the facility to the airport.
He said it was unlikely the city would be interested in using the money to move them, and may be prohibited from doing so by city ordinance.
The ordinance establishing the half-cent tax calls for the creation of new jobs but says nothing about relocating existing jobs within the city.
As far as closing the business down, Galli said he would expect that decision to come from the regulatory agency whose rules the company violated.
To his knowledge, there have been no problems or complaints lodged with city code enforcement officers.
He also said he wasn't overly concerned with the fact that L.B. Foster operated for nearly five years without the adequate state permits, since the state approved its application this month.
"With the permit not being in place, what did it result in?" Galli asked. "Would it have been any different four or five years ago?"
Be that as it may, the residents say they are not likely to back down or give up.
"We want L.B. Foster out of here," Almeda said. "We have a right to live in a community without pollution and toxins. For those people who say 'why don't you live somewhere else?' L.B. Foster has been here for five years, we've been here way past 70 or 80 years." |
