<\/p>\n
The town of Mancos and wood-products factory Western Excelsior are have formed a community committee to analyze emission impacts.<\/p>\n
Participants include Town Administrator Andrea Phillips and Mancos board member Mathew Baskin, along with Western Excelsior staffers Kyle Hanson and Fred Christianson.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re finding out the facts and coming up with solutions,\u201d Phillips said.<\/p>\n
Marcia Porter-Norton has been hired to facilitate the meetings. The next meeting will be in mid-January.<\/p>\n
Western Excelsior is working with the Colorado Department of Health and Environment on a new air emissions permit.<\/p>\n
A 30-day comment period for the permit ended Friday and is under review by CDPHE. It is expected to be finalized soon.<\/p>\n
The permit will identify point-source pollution at the plant and set threshold standards for emissions.<\/p>\n
A key aspect of the proposed permit is for Western Excelsior to install a bag house to capture smaller particulate emissions. A cyclone unit currently captures the larger particulates emitted.<\/p>\n
As part of the information gathering plan, Phillips is seeking a public health study on pollution issues in Mancos. The health department at the University of Colorado Denver has been approached to see if they are interested in conducting the study.<\/p>\n
The town worked with the Western Excelsior to mitigate blowing debris from one of its entrances. The company agreed to relocate a gate on the southern entrance that was causing pollutants to blow into nearby residences.<\/p>\n
The town then spent $2,000 to build a landscaped berm at the old gate location and plant poplar trees that will grow tall and work as a buffer against blowing debris.<\/p>\n
Phillips said the town is trying to solve the pollution problem from many different angles.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want the company to be successful and keep them here while also controlling particulate emissions,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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