Specialty
Air Quality
SECTOR
Commercial
TYPE
Permitting / Compliance
CLIENTELE
Private Sector
TIMESPAN
2006LOCATION
Burlington, VT
Project Number:
2660Test America Laboratory
SERVICE:
Air Permitting Assistance for an Environmental Laboratory
DESCRIPTION:
Tech Environmental obtained a combined air quality operating and construction permit application for the Severn Trent Laboratory (now Test America) in South Burlington, Vermont. The laboratory wanted to relocate from Colchester to Burlington, a distance of only a few miles. Despite the negligible distance, however, the Vermont Air Pollution Control Division (APCD) required the laboratory to obtain a combined operating and construction permit, as if the facility were a new source, rather than renew its existing construction and operating permit. The APCD cited the need to control methylene chloride emissions as the driving factor in their decision. The time to obtain the permits was short, as the laboratory's lease to their building in Colchester was ending.
Tech was able to obtain the necessary permits by working closely with the APCD. As the laboratory wanted to continue the use of vapor condensation for methylene chloride emissions control at the new location, Tech performed a Hazardous Most Stringent Emission Rate (HMSER) control analysis to justify the continued use of vapor condensation emissions controls for methylene chloride. A stack height analysis was also performed to determine the proper stack height and parameters to avoid air intake contamination of the laboratory's new building. The combined construction and operating permit application was prepared in approximately 6 weeks, with the final combined permit obtained in about three months, and the facility was able to relocate successfully.
