Got some Metamucil? - Data on Sherwin Williams.
1) Not sure of the meaning of this, but from the EPA:
"ACTUAL OR POTENTIAL EMISS ARE ABOVE THE APPLICABLE MAJOR SOURCE THRESHOLD."
2) In 1997, the plant produced 804.1 tons of hazardous waste. Now, that happens in industrial processes, and all of it was ultimately disposed of properly, but 8.96 tons were identified as residue from a spill cleanup.
http://oaspub.epa.gov/enviro/brs_report.get_data?hand_id=NCD003214319&;rep_year=1997&wheresql1=&ovalue=&mopt=0&tvalue=&wst_search=0&keyword1=&keyword2=&keyword3=&rvalue1=&rvalue2=&rvalue3=&cvalue1=&cvalue2=&cvalue3=
The chemical was Methyl ethyl ketone: "Methyl ethyl ketone is used as a solvent. Acute (short-term) inhalation exposure to methyl ethyl ketone in humans results in irritation to the eyes, nose, and throat. Limited information is available on the chronic (long-term) effects of methyl ethyl ketone in humans."
3) Stay with me now as we move to 2001.
The company released 62 tons of twelve different toxic chemicals into the air.
Including:
2.5 tons of ethylbenzene. "Acute (short-term) exposure to ethylbenzene in humans results in respiratory effects, such as throat irritation and chest constriction, irritation of the eyes, and neurological effects such as dizziness." (http://www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/hlthef/ethylben.html)
32.9 tons of Methyl ethyl ketone. (see #2 above)
2.1 tons of Methyl isobutyl ketone. "Acute (short-term) exposure to methyl isobutyl ketone may irritate the eyes and mucous membranes, and cause weakness, headache, nausea, lightheadedness, vomiting, dizziness, in coordination, narcosis in humans. Chronic (long-term) occupational exposure to methyl isobutyl ketone has been observed to cause nausea, headache, burning in the eyes, weakness, insomnia, intestinal pain, and slight enlargement of the liver in humans." (http://www.epa.gov/ttnatw01/hlthef/methyl-k.html)
13.1 tons of Toluene. "Chronic inhalation exposure of humans to toluene also causes irritation of the upper respiratory tract and eyes, sore throat, dizziness, and headache. Human studies have reported developmental effects, such as CNS dysfunction, attention deficits, and minor craniofacial and limb anomalies, in the children of pregnant women exposed to toluene or mixed solvents by inhalation." (http://www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/hlthef/toluene.html)
8.3 tons of mixed Xylene isomers. "Acute (short-term) inhalation exposure to mixed xylenes in humans results in irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat, gastrointestinal effects, eye irritation, and neurological effects. Chronic (long-term) inhalation exposure of humans to mixed xylenes results primarily in central nervous system (CNS) effects, such as headache, dizziness, fatigue, tremors, and incoordination; respiratory, cardiovascular, and kidney effects have also been reported. " (http://www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/hlthef/xylenes.html)
I'll bet the neighborhood doesn't know this. I think you'd be their hero if you brought it to their attention.
4) Air Pollution (other than hazardous emissions). They produced annually (1999 data):
CO: 1 ton
NOX: 1 ton
VOCs: 93 tons http://www.epa.gov/cgi-bin/broker?dbtype=TSV&;reqtype=viewdata&grtype=CGM&rpp=25&_service=agweb&_program=airsg.webprogs.emisumry.scl&_debug=2&geotype=co&geocode=37081&geoname=Guilford+Co%2C+North+Carolina&epolmin=.&epolmax=.&epol=CO&sic=&netyr=1999&geofeat=&mapsize=zsc&pg=2
Remember the jopodex? Where a company's number of jobs is divided by its total annual pollutants to arrive at an index? Recall that the average jopodex for all economic activity in Guilford county is 4.2. In other words, 4.2 jobs supported for each annual ton of air pollution. For comparison, FedEx would have a jopodex of 4.5, Marsh Furniture (High Point) is 1.2, Cone Mill is (was) 7.5 and RF Micro is 35.9.
I could not find the number of people Sherwin Williams employs at that plant, so the best I can do is work a little backwards. If they were to have a jopodex equal to the County average of 4.2, they would need to employ 399 people. Anything less than that and they are a worse than average polluter.
5) They do seem prepared to pay more than the average hourly wage which is currently $13.51 (http://jobs.esc.state.nc.us/lmi/ces/emp/emp2003/m3henaics.htm)
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© Copyright 2006 David Hoggard.
Last update: 2/15/2006; 7:54:28 AM.