Hillsboro Herald Releases Copy Of Scathing EPA Inspection Report On Intel In Hillsboro

NEW EPA DOCUMENTS AND NEW PERMITS RELEASED

HERE ARE THE DOCUMENTS

READ THE EPA FULL REPORT HERE:    EPA HILLSBORO REPORT ON INTEL

I have read the report and welcome debate and expansion by those who take the time to read it. Please weigh in the Commernts section below.

Page 16-29 from the Report: “A lack of transparency in Intel’s potential-to-emit and actual emissions calculations mean that the facility-wide permit limits intended to limit hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) to below major source thresholds are not enforceable as a practical matter.“

Take that in for a minute—the EPA from Denver, Colorado, came to Hillsboro, Oregon, did a surprise visit, checked all the equipment that creates Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPS), and found enough wrong to make a statement like that.

What does that statement mean?  I interpret it as Intel claiming that they are not polluting enough to be required to obtain the lengthy, expensive, and highly monitored Major Source Permit.  The EPA is finding enough wrong to state on the record that the permit Intel has is garbage because the company is not properly reporting and is unreliable in its actual emissions records.  They are probably hiding things, and should they properly report, will likely have to get new permits and be subjected to much more stringent guidelines.

See below:

Another grave concern in the report is that in multiple places the report takes issue with Intel’s reporting of the percentage of equipment utilization in the Fabs. Intel reported that their boilers were operating at 30% utilization. At the same time, Intel representatives said they do not intend to be required to keep the boilers at 30% or lower in their permits. Look at the excerpt below and the red section underlined.

From The Report:  Description of Observation: On July 7, 2023, Intel submitted a Prevention of Significant (PSD)
major modification permit application to EPA Region 10 and the Oregon Department of
Environmental Quality (OR DEQ) for its Aloha and Ronler Acres facility. Included with the
application were potential-to-emit (PTE) calculations for all the emission units at the facility.

NEIC reviewed the PTE calculations for the boilers and observed that the PTE calculations
included a utilization rate factor of 30% (Appendix I – Contains Company-claimed CBI).
During the inspection, Intel representatives stated that they do not intend for the 30%
utilization rate factor to be included as a permit limit. Because the boiler utilization rate
factor restricts the PTE of the facility, EPA would expect such a limitation be included in a
permit.

NEIC calculated the boiler PTE without using the 30% utilization rate factor (i.e., using a 100%
utilization rate factor), which resulted in a PTE of 0.5 tons per year (tpy) for total HAPs and
0.14 tpy for toluene, the greatest individual HAP (Appendix K). While these values are small,
the Intel facility PTE emissions for HAPs are close to the major source threshold, and
emissions from the boilers have the potential to impact the facility’s source status under the
National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutant (NESHAP) standards.

Intel is very close to triggering a Major Source Permit, which is a big deal because a Major Source Permit will trigger a Title V Permit.

“Title V of the 1990 Federal Clean Air Act requires each state to develop a comprehensive operating permit program for major industrial sources of air pollution. The program clarifies the environmental obligations of a business by organizing in one document all of a business’ air pollution control requirements.
The Title V Operating Permit Program does not require any tighter emissions standards; it does, however, place a greater responsibility on the business for monitoring, reporting, and certifying compliance with the conditions of the permit.”  Oregon DEQ

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Subject: Public comment, EQC, May 23, 2024, Dale Feik – written and oral

To:   Environmental Quality Commissioners via Lindsay Trapp (Please forward
this email to the four Commissioners – Kathleen George, Chair – and
Vice-chair Sam Baraso, and Commissioners, Amy Schlusser, Mark Webb; and DEQ
Director Leah Feldon

To:  To Governor Kotek.  You have authorized at least 90 million dollars to
Intel.  Please make sure that the DEQ has the money/staff to do the
extensive work to analyze the huge amount of data to be able to verify
Intel’s calculations related to Source Review of Intel’s approved Air
Contaminant Discharge Permit.

Re:  Public comment for the EQC, May 23, 2024, meeting, by Dale Feik — RE:
Intel, EPA NEIC inspection, Intel’s reply and DEQ requirement in approved
Air Permit

About seven years ago, I requested that EPA conduct an unannounced
inspection of Intel’s operations in Washington County by the Office of
Enforcement and Compliance Assurance office in Denver, Colorado.   A
four-day inspection was done July 17-20, 2023, and a report titled “NEIC
CIVIL INVESTIGATION REPORT at Intel Aloha and Ronler Acres Campuses, July
17-20, 2023, was written and sent to the EPA Region Office in Seattle
September 15, 2023.

Thomas Wood, an air permit attorney hired by Intel, wrote a seven-page
letter dated October 25, 2023, questioning some of the EPA observations made
in the report. Wood questioned how National Emissions Standards of Hazardous
Air Pollutants (NESHAP) are calculated.  Intel claims that they do not need
to be regulated by NESHAP standards – a standard that would require Intel to
be an EPA Federal Major Source of Emission facility and therefore held to a
higher standard which would require more effective control devices.

In the NEIC report on page 16 under the heading Observation 1, it states-
“Contains Company-claimed Confidential Business Information.  Observation
summary:  A lack of transparency in Intel’s potential-to-emit and actual
emission calculations mean that the facility-wide permit limits intended to
limit hazardous air pollutants (HAPS) to below major source thresholds are
not enforceable as a practical matter.”

Observation 1 was written before DEQ issued to Intel its Air Contaminate
Discharge Permit dated April 16, 2024.  Because of the lack of transparency
issue, DEQ required in the approved air permit that Intel pay for Annual
Source Testing of all their wet scrubbers.  Then DEQ will do Annual Reviews
of those results.

Sincerely,

Dale Feik
Chair, Washington County Citizen Action Network (WC CAN) –
http://www.wc-can.org/
Cell:  503-504-5972
dfeik33@comcast.net

Now that we have released these reports and pending permits into the ethos, let’s see who else jumps in to cover this big breaking development.  This is a very important and substantial turn in the road for us all.  Intel is fighting back and refuting things through their lawyers.  Maybe some compliance and real commitment would be a good idea too.

These are my opinions; the facts in reports are on record and cannot be imagined.  This is real.