Air quality experts to study asphalt plant

• The state health department will soon release a draft permit for Martin Marietta’s asphalt facility.
• Neighbors of the plant want it moved; company officials say it meets all air quality regulations.

Concern about the potential impacts of the asphalt plant next to the Poudre River on air quality has prompted officials to seek outside expertise in evaluating a draft state permit for the facility.

Larimer County and the city of Fort Collins have agreed to split the cost of hiring Air Resource Specialists Inc. of Fort Collins as a consultant as they review an air emissions permit for the Martin Marietta plant at 1800 N. Taft Hill Road.

The draft permit is expected to be released soon by the air pollution control division of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. Martin Marietta has applied for a permit that would reclassify the plant as a stationary source of emissions rather than a portable source.

A 30-day comment period will follow the release of a draft permit. County and city officials are expected to provide comments based on the recommendations of citizen boards that advise them on environmental and air quality issues.

The Larimer County commissioners on Tuesday approved spending up to $3,600 for the county’s share of hiring the consultant. Fort Collins is expected to contribute the same amount.

Air Resource Specialists is working with the city and county to define the scope of work it would perform, Doug Ryan, an environmental health planner with the county health department, told the commissioners.

The work is likely to include a review of technical elements in the permit, such as an inventory of emissions and air dispersion modeling, Ryan said.

Citing health and safety concerns, neighbors of the facility have been lobbying local and state officials to have it moved. Martin Marietta officials have said the plant is safe and meets all local, state and federal standards for air quality.