City Manager's Letter regarding Exide

October 7, 2010
To The Citizens of Frisco:

There have been many stories written and broadcast recently about Exide Technologies and the non attainment zone related to lead emissions from Exide’s Frisco plant. For those of you who aren’t familiar, the non attainment zone, which is due to a new lower standard for lead, is designated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) after review of the recommendation made by Governor Rick Perry.

Currently, it is estimated to cover two square miles around the Exide plant, which is located south of downtown. This letter is to inform you about what the city has been doing to address the issue and what the city intends to do going forward.

The city recently became aware of a battery recycling plant in California which has installed enhanced pollution control mechanisms that produce some amazing reductions in pollutants going into the air. The results show lead emissions were reduced in excess of 99 percent and other pollutants were reduced by more than 90 percent*. We have asked our consultants to look into the process to see if similar results could be expected in Frisco.

Three weeks ago, I went to Atlanta to meet with the new CEO and President of Exide Technologies, Jim Bolch. At the meeting, I expressed our citizens’ concerns about the non attainment zone and lack of public response or action by Exide on the issue. I also gave him the information I had about the California plant utilizing the new pollution control technologies that have reported reductions in lead emissions far below the new EPA standards.

The city also has provided similar information to both the EPA and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).
Mr. Bolch was very receptive and indicated he wanted to change the perception of Exide by making it a more responsive company to public concerns. It is my understanding that Exide continues to investigate the California plant to see if the pollution controls are adaptable to Exide’s Frisco plant.

After the meeting, Exide submitted an application to TCEQ to reduce its current permit limits. It is my understanding TCEQ is working to see what effects the reduced limits will have on the proposed non attainment zone.
Concerning the new non attainment area and lead emissions, the city has worked with the TCEQ to place air monitors at key locations around the Exide plant. In two instances, the city has made available city right of way and city owned property for the monitors. In another instance the city worked with a private property owner to obtain an easement for TCEQ. In regards to the EPA, the city provided access to city owned property and gained permission from the Frisco Independent School District for soil tests around the perimeter of the Exide plant.

Concerning immediate health concerns, the city has requested that Exide put a program in place so anyone living in the area of the plant may have their blood lead level checked. It is my understanding that Exide will be putting the program in place in the next few weeks.

In addition, the TCEQ and the Texas Department of Health were requested by the city to update the health risk study originally completed in 1995. Dr. Laura M. Plunkett worked on the original study and has been contacted to do the follow up study. Currently, the TCEQ is waiting for the results from EPA for the above mentioned soil tests before proceeding with the study.

But our efforts to make Frisco a safe place to be did not begin in the last few months. When the city learned in 2008 that Exide had submitted an application for increased production, the city immediately made contact with TCEQ to protest the application. Exide withdrew the application after becoming aware of the city's protest.

I have worked with the plant and its managers for the past 23 years. During that time, the plant has made several pollution control improvements, such as putting in stack scrubbers in the late 1980s and a crystallizer in the 1990s to take its process water out of the city wastewater stream. Approximately four years ago I met with the then manager of the plant, and I suggested that we should make a push to get the latest and best pollution controls installed at the plant. He agreed to work with me towards that goal. Unfortunately, he left the plant a few months after that meeting.

The city kept its commitment by working on the battery recycling fee issue. As background, beginning in the 1990s, Frisco led the effort to have a portion of the battery recycling fee collected on the sale of every lead-acid battery in the state actually go towards the problems/costs associated with recycling lead-acid batteries. While unsuccessful then, in the 2009 legislative session, with great assistance from State Senator Florence Shapiro and State Representative Ken Paxton, we were able to get a bill passed and signed by Governor Rick Perry, which allows up to 10 percent of the fees collected to go towards issues associated with battery recycling. We continue to work with TCEQ to have rules put in place establishing how these funds may be accessed and used.

Mayor Maher Maso and the Frisco City Council want you to know the city’s intent is to bring to bear all its efforts and resources to assure that the Exide plant is the most environmentally advanced plant in the country or lead the efforts to stop its operation. We will leave no stone unturned in our efforts to influence Exide, TCEQ and the EPA to do what is in your best interests.

Sincerely,
George Purefoy
City Manager