Readers may recall that there are two narrow-tube manufacturers in Pennsylvania that have caused quite a stir because of their nation-leading TCE emissions.

Recently, local advocacy group Citizens for Pennsylvania's Future (a.k.a. Penn Future) commissioned a report to outline for these manufacturers how they can reduce their use and emission of TCE.

According to the Philadelphia Enquirer (PA):

The 15-page technical report, commissioned by the advocacy group Citizens for Pennsylvania's Future, outlined changes that it said could reduce emissions by up to 90 percent. It came just days after Superior released a report saying its TCE emissions had been reduced by 60 percent as a result of changes made within the last several months.

Tony Jost, Superior's president and chief executive officer, said he had not yet read the full report and could not comment on it. But he said the company's current emissions "show the effectiveness of the voluntary reduction programs we've been working on. We're very happy to have exceeded our 2007 goals, and we're continuing to work hard on further reductions."

Accellent spokesman Jeffrey M. Farina was unavailable yesterday.

[...]

Although the plants had largely been operating within their state permits, residents and advocates have argued that with so much at stake - according to the DEP, the increased lifetime cancer risk from the TCE emitted is as high as 1.6 people per 10,000 - the companies and regulators are doing too little.

As outlined in the consultant's report, Penn Future's consultant identified several steps the companies could take while cautioning against silver-bullet mentality in recommending wholesale replacement of TCE:

Superior Tube, Company Inc (Superior Tube) and Accellent, Inc. (Accellent), two narrow tube companies in the Collegeville, PA, were ranked #6 and #8 respectively, for TCE emissions in the United States in 2005. Matson & Associates, Inc. (M&A) was asked to analyze the sources of toxic TCE emissions from the two facilities and provide recommendations on ways in which these companies can reduce their TCE emissions. Pursuant to this request, M&A has identified the following three methods that when implemented, in some combination, by Superior Tube and Accellent with significantly reduce TCE emissions at their Collegeville, PA plants:

(1) Route emissions from equipment emitting significant levels of TCE to effective activated carbon (AC) systems;

(2) Install closed-loop, vacuum, or airless vacuum vapor degreasers in place of equipment currently being used to perform degreasing operations.

(3) Switch from TCE to a non-HAP formula (e.g. n-propyl bromide) in equipment currently employing TCE;

Items (1) and (2) are feasible for reducing emissions from both large and small emitters of TCE. Item (3) is best employed for small emitters. nPB is a volatile organic compound (VOC) though it is not classified as a hazardous air pollutant (HAP), as is TCE. As a VOC, it does present some safety and environmental concerns such that its release in large quantities is not desirable.

Read the full Philadelphia Inquirer story here. Or download the full consultant's report here in PDF format.