Poisoning By Basin Asphalt Plant in East Wenatchee

A couple of days ago, I was so nauseous and dizzy I could barely drive away from my house. I had a pounding headache, but more than anything, the nausea was severe. I was only about 1 mile from my house when I almost pulled over. I literally did not know if I could drive. I had to concentrate very hard to drive. But then I noticed the smell was going away. The farther I drove from home, the more fresh air we got. I looked back. There was a thick purple hazy cloud of smoke and smog that was settled around our house. The smell that we were escaping was the stench of asphalt fumes. "Ohmi..." Crap. I thought. My first thought was to go to Public Health but I tried to press on to Wenatchee. I had errands to run. I was going to have to go to the hospital if I didn't feel better. But within a half hour, the nausea had lifted, and within an hour, it was gone. But I was weak.

I had been feeling very, very, tired. Since moving here, a couple of months ago, I had been frequently nauseous. I went to the doctor and reported the fatigue--it's in my chart. I thought it was from my painkillers but didn't register they hadn't bothered me at my other address. I was having tension headaches, which were different from my clusters. I was sometimes so dizzy I almost blacked out. The nausea was the worst. I bought ginger candy to fight it. It wasn't until a couple of days ago that I considered it was from the asphalt fumes.

We live in a beautiful orchard, that is directly across the street from a large asphalt plant. When I first noticed the fumes, everyone said it was no big deal. I meant to do some research to make sure it was safe for my son. But there were other things going on. I thought it could wait. In the meantime, at night, I would take my son for little walks on our property, and we would swing on a porchswing and I could see billows of smoke and steam pouring in puffy columns from the asphalt plant. Almost every night we fell asleep with the smell, especially if the wind blew the fumes in our direction.

From Wenatchee I looked back at the Baker Flats area. The smog had spread out to the edge of East Wenatchee. There was no forest fire but it was thick as smoke from a forest fire. There were no dirt or dust devils. It was the asphalt plant.

When we went home, late, the smell was almost gone. I didn't notice it, until this morning. The plant started spewing fumes to our house this morning. I was very sick with nausea and headache, by 9 a.m. this morning. I called an asphalt plant that I knew was not the one across the street. They told me to call the state Department of Ecology.

I called and said I was sick and believed it was from asphalt fumes. I said I wanted to know what was in asphalt fumes, if it was toxic to me or my toddler son, and if they did tests or had standards for the plants. The guy I spoke with was friendly. He said they'd had a lot of complaints on this plant and he said it had not been built with certain standards or mechanisms in place and that the new owners were going to work on it. He told me it was not in compliance when he checked in January of 2007, but that they were putting in a "scavenging" system to filter the toxins probably in a few months. I asked him who had made complaints before me. He said it might be confidential. I asked if he would check please. He said he had to get the file, and then he told me the last complaint that was filed was in September 2005. I asked for the name of the company. He was reluctant but gave it to me: HD Fowler.

He had just told me he'd had recent complaints about this plant. My guess is that he meant complaints by phone, but not in writing. Because then he was telling me his last complaint was years ago.

I asked him why the plant was still allowed to operate when it was not in compliance. It had not been in compliance in 2005, and it was not in compliance in 2007. I told him it was much worse at night. He said they couldn't check it at night, because the state Department of Transportation authorized excess production of asphalt at night, when there was not traffic going by the plant.

I asked him why the plant was still operating if it was not in compliance. It had been operating since January without the "scavenging system". I told him that a couple of days ago it had been a smog zone and that I'd almost passed out from the fumes. I told him my symptoms and that my son had not been eating as much. I told him if I had symptoms, it was probably worse for my son. I asked him if other people who complained about asphalt fumes had the same symptoms of nausea and headache. His answer was "yes".

I asked him why they had not shut down the plant. He it wasn't up to him, that operations were authorized by the county. I said, so you've determined this plant is NOT in compliance, and I've just told you how it is making me and my son ill and could further affect our health, and you're not shutting this down? He acted incredulous. He said he couldn't shut it down. I asked him who could. I said, "EPA?" He told me not to call the Environmental Protection Agency and said they were federal and that in Washington these plants were governed by the state.

What he had been telling me was that the Department of Transportation was involved, and needed the roads from the asphalt of this plant. The Department of Transportation at the state level, which probably worked with the state Department of Ecology. I'm not sure how the county fits into this, but somehow it does.

This guy seemed completely unconcerned about the hazardous fumes. He was obviously putting other interests ahead those of public health.

I told him there were residents living near the plant. Not a lot, but is one too few? It was beginning to sound to me like roads and money were being put ahead of lives. I later looked up information about asphalt fumes and they can cause serious health and lung problems, and there is also a link to cancer. The risk is greatest to workers at asphalt plants and nearby residents. The mainly male workforce that has been working at that plant has been constantly exposed to toxic levels of fumes, and carcinogens. Carbon monoxide is one of the toxins.

But the plant keeps running.

I called EPA. I said I wanted to make a formal complaint but that first I wanted my call to be documented. I spoke with a woman who told me she was an intern there. When I told what was going on, how they were not in compliance and it wasn't being shut down until standards were met, and we were getting sick in the meantime, she said to me, "Have you considered moving?"

I was stunned. Speechless in fact. Yeah lady, we did just move. I said, "That is not the issue. We have a right to live here. This plant is NOT in compliance and that is the issue". She said she'd documented my call. She waited for me to say goodbye. I repeated, "So you've documented this call?" She said yes. I asked if I could get her name again. Then she remembered to get my name and phone number.

The plant had stopped running sometime during my conversation with the Ecology guy. My nausea cleared up almost immediately, as well as the headache.

I took my son for a walk. We met a guy moving cars and machinery. He said, in response to my story, "Oh yeah, this asphalt company's been in bed with the county commisioners for years...it's all about money." Again, a mention of the county.

I told this neighbor what I had said to the Ecology guy, which was, "So you're telling me this plant is not allowed to produce as much when cars are going by, but when people are sleeping next to it all night it doesn't matter?" I guess he assumed our lives didn't matter. That anyone living near an asphalt plant wasn't as valuable to society or worth as much as the guy driving by for 2 minutes during the day.

Who is the owner of this plant? When I asked the Ecology guy he refused to tell me. He was strangely quiet. He said it had changed hands. He said he didn't know.

I called the plant, Basin Asphalt, which is now owned by Granite NW, which is a division of a huge conglomerate, "Granite Construction Inc" out of Watsonville, CA. When I called the plant across the street and asked who the owner was, they said suspiciously, who wanted to know? When I gave a false name, another woman came on and refused to give any info, acting suspicious. Later in the day, I got a call from California, from a gentleman with a Swedish accent. After looking up the company, I'm curious as to whether he is one of the guys from the Board of Directors.

I looked up Granite Construction Inc online. http://www.graniteconstruction.com/about-us/index.cfm. My neighbor was right. It's about money. That's why they're not shutting down the plant. I want to know how the county is involved.

I need to find a better link to the effects of asphalt fumes on humans, but this is one for now: http://www.idph.state.il.us/envhealth/factsheets/asphalt.htm