Mayor Alex B. Morse City of Holyoke August 6, 2018 Natalie McClaine, US EPA Federal On-Scene Coordinator, Region 1 5 Post Office Square - Suite 100 Boston, MA 02109-3912 Dear Ms, McClaine: lam in receipt of your email dated July 25, 2018 in which you describe MassDEP’s response to a resident complaint of a yellow cloud reportedly originating from the Sullivan Metals’ Scrapyard located at 107 Appleton Street (Parcel D 030-01-001). | am writing to express my concem with the agency's response and to request the agency take appropriate action to ensure that abutting residents are not exposed to environmental hazards, The response consisted of a visual inspection of the site and concluded that ‘the reported yellow cloud was most likely from the large cast iron items were being cut where acetylene was being used.” Notably, there is no reference as to whether MassDEP or EPA had access to and viewed video footage of the yellow smoke cloud submitted by the complainant (httos://www.facebook.comv/alison.eldredge/videos/10216978986129772/). Nor does the response include any detailed explanation for the stated conclusion or identification of alternative causes ruled out by the inspector. In reviewing the complaint, city officials reviewed the facility's NPDES permit and observed numerous recent containment discharge violations of effluent benchmarks indicating violations of the Clean Water Act and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. Based on related non- compliance and the nature of complaints received, the incident cited in the complaint does not appear to be an isolated incident." Of particular concern, in addition to the lack of air monitoring * indeed, on the date of this letter, a smoke cloud originating from the property was visible from the {fourth tloor of the Holyoke City Hall Annex which is located a quarter-mile north of the property (photo ‘and email attached), 636 DWIGHT STREET - MAYOR'S OFFICE « HOLYOKE, MASSACHUSETTS 01040-50194 PHONE: (413) 322-5510 - FAX: (413) 322-5521 - EMAIL: morsea@holyoke.org Birthplace of Volleyballor testing in response to the complaint, the City could not locate any air monitoring testing from NPDES permit reports Based on the complaint and facility's recent history of non-compliance, | am writing to request that EPA R1 / MassDEP conduct appropriate air monitoring to ensure the facility operations are not exposin: dents to substandard air qualit Please contact my office to discuss possible air monitoring compliance actions and coordination with municipal resources. Sincerely, Alex B. Morse lee Gladys Lebron-Martinez, Ward 1 City Councilor Jenclosures Complaint (See.Click.Fix), dated July 26, 2018 Complaint (email correspondence), dated July 26, 2018 & July 31, 2018 Photo observing smoke cloud, dated August 6, 2018 US EPA ECHO Detailed Facility Report, FRS ID 110067236623, last accessed 7/30/2018 US EPA ECHO Detailed Facility Report, FRS ID 110003436347, last accessed 773072018