The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Air Quality has issued a modified air quality permit to Carpenter Co., an expanded polystyrene manufacturer located in High Point, Guilford County. This marks the company’s first Title V air quality permit.
Previously, Carpenter Co. operated under a synthetic minor air quality permit that limited its emissions below the major-source threshold of 100 tons per year. The new permit modification now allows the facility to emit pentane, which is classified as a volatile organic compound, at levels considered major-source.
Despite this change, the facility continues to be classified as a minor source of hazardous air pollutants and remains subject to federal regulations for area sources of hazardous air pollutants related to its adhesive coating operations. According to state officials, the company demonstrated that its emissions of toxic air pollutants will remain below regulatory permitting rates.
The final Title V permit includes conditions designed to ensure that ambient pollutant levels beyond the facility’s property line comply with all emission standards, including those based on health considerations. The facility will also be required to adhere to recordkeeping and reporting obligations and will undergo regular inspections.
After seeking public comments on a draft version of the permit, the Division of Air Quality made technical corrections in the final document and added a production limit intended to ensure compliance with proposed prevention of significant deterioration (PSD) limits for the entire facility.
Copies of the final permit documents and related materials are available online.
“If you need this information in Spanish, Urdu, Arabic, Lao, Swahili or another language, call 919-707-8446 or email Shawn.Taylor@deq.nc.gov.”
