Grimmel: Recent state and consultant documents approving their Mack Point steel scrap export operation plan.

We made inquiry of DEP for the chief  paperwork that must have been shared even if  only in digital formats - a trend that MDEP  encourages as paper use reducer.

DEP included the following staff  in the email conversation
"Kuhns, Mick" <Mick.Kuhns@maine.gov>, "Kavanah, Brian W <Brian.W.Kavanah@maine.gov> "Reynolds, Scott" <Scott.Reynolds@maine.gov>,
"Wood, Jana" <Jana.Wood@maine.gov>, "Wood, Gregg" <Gregg.Wood@maine.gov>,
"Ladd, David" <David.Ladd@maine.gov>

Jana Wood was tapped to answer FOPB's request . Here are the  four critical documents she supplied:

4/17/215 Notice of Intent to Comply w/ Maine Multisector General Permit 1 pg
4/17/215 GeoInsight  Storrmwater Pollution Prevention Plan cover letter (1 pg)
4/17/215 Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan  55 pgs
4/28/15 Stormwater permit authorization by David Kuhns, Maine DEP 2 pgs 

Here is Wood's explanatory text accompanying those documents:

"The record consists of the Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan prepared and submitted by Geoinsight consultants for Grimmel, application for Notice of Intent and MDEP acknowledgment letter to confirm permit coverage. 

"The permit for Grimmel was issued under the guidance of Alex Rosenberg, Region 1 EPA and include EPA rules for Sampling the stormwater for additional parameters that currently the Maine MSGP does not require, see page 17 and 18 of the SWPPP.  I have asked the consultant to convey the request to Grimmel that I want to be involved and inspect the site as scrap metal being delivered to the site for shipping.  The typical inspection program that we conduct is annual to bi-annual but in this case with so many eyes on Grimmel, I plan to conduct inspections more often to keep a close watch on the activity and stormwater recordkeeping required by the permit. 

"Sincerely,

Jana Wood

Industrial Stormwater Inspector

EMRO, 106 Hogan Road

Bangor, Maine 04401

207-215-7869

jana.wood@maine.gov"

Grimmel scrap metal export dock application approved for Mack Point

From Waldo Villagesoup/Belfast Republican Journal

Grimmel scrap metal application approved

EPA concludes 'mercury not a concern in this application'

By Stephanie Grinnell | May 13, 2015

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Photo by: Jordan BaileyGrimmel Industries was granted approval to operate a junkyard -- stockpiles of scrap metal -- on leased property at Mack Point by Searsport Planning Board May 11.

SEARSPORT — Final approval for a scrap metal storage operation at Mack Point was given May 11.

Planning Board members unanimously voted to approve the application by Grimmel Industries LLC following a brief public hearing, during which residents voiced concerns about mercury as well as air and water quality.

Grimmel submitted a letter to the Planning Board April 29 with documents requested by the board, including best management practices by Sprague Energy Corp., on whose property Grimmel will operate.

Attorney Brian Rayback, speaking on behalf of Grimmel, said the company chose to abide by tougher federal standards in regard to its SWIP, or Solid Waste Implementation Plan. He told board members the Department of Environmental Protection granted Grimmel its own stormwater permit.

“This approval only applies to the discharge of stormwater,” he said. “We are not seeking to discharge anything else into the water.”

Rayback said there was a discussion about metals dropping into the water and the company has designed new “curtains” to prevent transfer of metals from contaminating bodies of water. A magnet is also used to clean up the water in the case of any loose metal, which is valuable to the company, he said.

Residents wondered why the DEP did not have a public hearing before issuing Grimmel's permit; Rayback clarified a hearing is optional but the agency is always open to accepting comments on proposals.

“It's inherent in the nature of that that it's a quick turnaround time,” he said. “We worked closely with the DEP because we knew this would be under scrutiny.”

Resident Ann Crimaudo said she had a letter from the federal Environmental Protection Agency stating a hearing would certainly take place before a permit was issued. She said she understood the board could not do anything about the lack of a hearing but wanted the EPA letter included in the record.

Ron Huber of Rockland, executive director Friends of Penobscot Bay, encouraged the Planning Board to consider strict monitoring of the operation. Steve Tanguay shared his concern staffing levels at the local and state level are too low to adequately monitor contamination levels.

Rayback noted neither EPA nor DEP guidelines include monitoring for mercury levels, an area of concern repeatedly brought up by residents.

“EPA concluded that mercury is not a pollutant of concern in this application,” he said. “… It's a very difficult thing to monitor for and we agree. … The DEP general permit says you don't have to monitor for mercury or any other metals if you're a scrap metal dealer. … We are confident we can meet the standards.”

Rayback later said the company does not plan to monitor or test for mercury.

“If Grimmel isn't doing anything harmful, they don't have anything to worry about,” Selectman Meredith Ares said.

Rayback said he has little knowledge of the mercury testing process or its associated costs.

“It's not as simple as setting the baseline and imagining it as a constant level,” he said.

Sprague Environmental Compliance Manager Jason Littlefield said the EPA believes acid rain is to blame for random shifts in mercury levels.

“It takes years to come up with some sort of baseline,” he said. “ … It's a difficult pollutant to come up with a source.”

Rayback discouraged the board from attempting to create monitoring guidelines on its own.

“We don't have anything to hide; we don't think we are the source of it,” he said. “I'm worried about setting up a testing program that's scientifically defensible.”

While the application received conditional approval in February, the board voted again on the conditional items — unanimously agreeing the conditions had been met — and also, upon the advice of town attorney Bill Kelly, on the application as a whole.

Junkyard application granted conditional approval. - latest media.

Junkyard application granted conditional approval.
By Stephanie Grinnell | Feb 10, 2015  BELFAST REPUBLICAN JOURNAL

Grimmel Industries was granted conditional approval to operate a junkyard -- stockpiles of scrap metal -- on leased property at Mack Point.

SEARSPORT — Grimmel Industries Inc. received conditional approval from Searsport's Planning Board Feb. 9 to stockpile scrap metal on leased Sprague Energy property at Mack Point.

Mack Point  from above Sears Island.  Photo courtesy Project Light Hawk

The operation falls under the junkyard definition and the company's application was approved with several conditions, which will be reviewed again before final approval is granted. Conditions include meeting noise standards, controlling dust and potential heavy metal contamination through a closed-loop water system and air quality monitoring, as well as clean up of stray pieces of metal both from the bay and from trucks moving the materials.

Planning Board members unanimously granted the conditional approval and noted operations by Grimmel can not begin in Searsport until all conditions of approval are met. Planning Board members also requested copies of the updated Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan (issued by the Department of Environmental Protection to Sprague), Sprague's Best Management Practices and DEP testing criteria for any contaminants it deems necessary to monitor.

Previously, Grimmel representatives described the Searsport operation as stockpiling of softball-sized metal on an existing 2.25-acre concrete pad, which is fully surrounded by Sprague property. About 10 times per year, ships will be loaded with the scrap metal and it will be shipped overseas.

Residents raised concerns about dust created by rusting ferrous metals at the site, water contamination as well as noise and the potential for damage to vehicles caused by loose pieces of metal, in part based on Grimmel's operation in Portsmouth, N.H. The company's lease in Portsmouth was not renewed this year by Pease Development Authority, leading to its application in Searsport.

Attorney Kristen Collins noted there will be an additional opportunity for public comment when Grimmel's application is next addressed by the Planning Board. No date was set for the hearing.

Searsport planning board's 1/216/15 Grimmel scrap steel export plan hearing. Company reps testify, get grilled.

On January 26, 2015, following  a video of  noise being generated at Grimmel Industries' former site in Portsmouth NH, the Searsport Planning Board heard from (and questioned) Grimmel, its lawyer and a Sprague Energy rep, before an attentive audience concerned citizens and their attorney. A third hearing will take place on February 9th 


Part 1  Atty Brian Rayback of Pierce Atwood pt1  5min  

Part 2  Brian Rayback, Pierce Atwood pt 2 6min 22 sec  

Part 3   Brian Rayback of Pierce Atwood &  Sprague  8min Note: Sprague rep starts at 4min:30 sec

Part 4  9min 15sec Sprague questioned by Planning board 9min 15sec. "...a violation of the permit would be our violation." at end of  segment

Grimmel Industries' waterfront scrap metal junkard proposal - Peter Taber on why it's a terrible idea for Searsport.

COMING TO A WATERFRONT NEAR YOU?
By Peter Taber, Wild Maine Times.

When many older junked cars are shredded, hard-to-reach mercury switches including mercury switches used as part of brake anti-skid systems are frequently not removed even though this is in violation of state law and the U.S. Clean Water Act. These switches get torn apart in the shredder and their extremely toxic contents spattered freely about the scrap pile.

This accounts for most of the unacceptably high levels of inorganic mercury that for the past dozen years have been detected entering the Piscataqua River at Portsmouth, NH., near Grimmel Industries' waterfront scrap metal piles. This mercury is in addition to unacceptable levels of other scrap metal contaminants — among them polychlorinated biphenyls, aluminum, copper, iron, lead, and zinc — entering the waters of the United States in runoff from Grimmel Industries' Portsmouth operations.

On three occasions, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has gone after Grimmel Industries (pdf) imposing civil fines totaling over half a million dollars for repeated instances of toxic waste dumping and reporting violations. The behavior of owner Gary Grimmel of Topsham, Maine, in continuing these violations with an apparent sense of impunity suggests he made a cold-blooded cost-benefit analysis and concluded the EPA fines were merely an acceptable cost of doing business.

What Grimmel appears to have overlooked in making his calculations is that this sociopathic behavior would cause the City of Portsmouth and the Pease Development Authority to disinvite Grimmel Industries. With his lease expired at year's end and the welcome mat in Portsmouth rolled up, Gary Grimmel is looking to a new industrial waterfront community to bring his poisonous commodity. With foreign fossil energy company Sprague Energy as his eager new landlord, that community seems to be Searsport.

The question now is has Searsport's municipal leadership learned anything over the past 40 years from being suckered in by one addle-brained pitch for irresponsible heavy industry after another.

Here's a press release from Conservation Law Foundation, which has been at the forefront in drawing attention to Grimmel Industries' activities in Portsmouth:

Here's a 2011 news article about EPA civil actions against Grimmel Industries in New Hampshire before the company subsequently was denied the opportunity to renew its lease to continue polluting the Piscataqua River:

And here's a portion of the Republican Journal account of last Tuesday's (Dec. 16) Searsport selectmen's meeting at which the board held a public hearing about but tabled action on Grimmel Industries' application to establish a junkyard on Sprague Energy's waterfront property at Mack Point in Searsport:

SELECTMEN TABLE JUNKYARD APPLICATION
By Stephanie Grinnell | Dec 19, 2014
SEARSPORT — There was much discussion but little action on the part of Searsport Selectmen Dec. 16 as they addressed a junkyard application....

Grimmel Industries LLC, a scrap metal recycling company, submitted an application to open a junkyard on Mack Point, an industrial area of town. While selectmen ultimately decided to table the application, citing a need for additional information, there was some discussion.

“I want to do this right, especially since it's the first one,” Selectmen Chairman Aaron Fethke said.
Town Manager James Gillway said there are only a few criteria for selectmen to consider, including proper screening of the operations taking place on 2.5 acres. He said the application submitted by Grimmel states there will be no shredding of automobiles — a noise concern brought up by Selectman Jack Merrithew — and screening should not be an issue as the only abutter wants the business located there.

In its application, Grimmel described the operation as a marine transfer yard and estimated truck traffic to be limited to around 10 trucks, or four rail cars, per day.

Boston resident John Hassey suggested selectmen be wary and conduct due diligence prior to granting a junkyard permit to Grimmel. He noted there have been ongoing noise and environmental issues with the company's Portsmouth, N.H., location.
According to previously published reports, Pease Development Authority declined to renew a contract with Grimmel and requested the company cease operations and clean up its 3-acre site on Piscataqua River before the end of the year.
The development authority and Grimmel originally entered into a contract in Portsmouth in 2002. In 2011, the company was ordered by the Environmental Protection Agency to stop allowing runoff into the river.
According to EPA documents, “ … stormwater discharges from Grimmel's metal scrapyard operation contain metals, suspended solids and chemical oxygen demand which exceed permit benchmarks. Further the stormwater discharges contain mercury and PCBs …” The state of New Hampshire issued a warning to limit consumption of salt water fish as well as lobster, according to the EPA.

It is unclear when selectmen will next address the application.