Air agency samples J.H. Baxter emissions.

Byline: Randi Bjornstad The Register-Guard

Initial air samples taken upwind and downwind of the J.H. Baxter creosote plant revealed no violations of federal air quality standards, Lane Regional Air Pollution Authority officials said Thursday.

LRAPA employees who took the samples on Jan. 6 and Jan. 12 noticed "mild to moderate" wood treatment odors downwind of the plant, but no odors in the upwind direction.

The downwind air samples contained several chemicals common in wood treatment processes, including naphthalene and 2-methyl- naphthalene, in concentrations of 1/40th to 1/80,000th of the acceptable standards established for workplaces by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

LRAPA spokeswoman Kim Metzler said the local air pollution agency will conduct 10 to 15 additional sets of air samples, at a cost of $2,000 per sample, using $26,000 in funds obtained from the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

"When we have the additional samples, we will know better the patterns we're looking at," Metzler said. When complete, the data will be forwarded to the Oregon Department of Human Services for further toxicological investigation, she said.

LRAPA compared the samples to OSHA standards because the state and the federal governments do not have standards for these chemicals for neighborhoods.

Residential neighbors of the west Eugene plant have complained for years about the fumes generated by the creosote-producing operation, and additional studies have been undertaken to assess chemical pollution caused by the plant in the water and soil in the vicinity.

Also on Thursday, representatives of J.H. Baxter and LRAPA signed a "best work practices agreement," calling for the company to continue using vacuum, condenser, water pump and piping systems already installed at the plant and to install additional odor-filtering equipment on its creosote work tanks.

Baxter plant manager Gary Hunt said the results of the first air quality tests held no surprises for Baxter officials.

"It's pretty much what we expected. We have no sick employees, so there's no reason to have sick neighbors," Hunt said. "We're very excited about the air monitoring, because we want our neighbors to feel we're not a health hazard.

The equipment that already has been installed, coupled with upgrades planned for the near future, "have merit," he said. "We think it all will help tremendously."

The company already has spent $400,000 on that work, and the next phase of control equipment will cost $150,000, Hunt said. The best practices agreement stipulates that Baxter submit a schedule within 30 days for installation of the filtering equipment on the creosote work tanks. After LRAPA approves the schedule and permits, the new equipment will be installed within 90 days.

After that, an outside expert hired by Baxter and approved by LRAPA will evaluate the effectiveness of all control measures in place and will report back within 120 days.