Local air monitoring

Southeast Newport News Atmospheric Pollution Survey, 1956

In the mid-1950's, the City of Newport News hired Froehling and Robertson Inc., a Richmond-based chemical engineering firm, to quantify the amount of coal in airborne particles. The study was in response to a coal dust-related complaint to the Newport News City Council by the Garden-Shores Civic League. Froehling and Robertson Inc. installed ten dust collection stations in Southeast Newport News. Each station consisted of two-foot square glass plates coated with a neutral paper and mounted on outdoor platforms. Every few days, technicians removed the paper coatings to analyze the settled particles in a laboratory for the presence of coal. Samples were collected for 30 days.

The study produced evidence that coal was prevalent in airborne particles, with as much as 45% of airborne dust being un-combusted coal in one measurement period at the station located at 15th Street and Wickham Avenue. City Manager J. C. Biggins reported to Newport News City Council that some stations were destroyed during the study period.

These results compelled the Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) Railroad Company to install equipment to create a water fog over the coal piers to suppress dust. A second outcome was that City Manager J. C. Biggins presented a draft local ordinance designed to control air pollution sources, including the coal terminals, to the Newport News City Council for approval.

Control of Fugitive Emissions from Open Coal Storage in Newport News, Virginia, 1987

In January 1987, the Virginia Air Pollution Control Board (APCB) published a study on coal dust emissions from the terminals in Southeast Newport News: Control of Fugitive Emissions from Open Coal Storage in Newport News, Virginia. As part of this study, researchers developed a mathematical formula relating meteorological conditions, PM₁₀ concentrations, and concentrations of un-combusted coal in particulate matter. The study is the basis for the water sprinkler dust suppression system, developing specific guidelines for when sprinklers must be turned on and how much water should be applied. To read more about the results of this study, see Particulate Matter and Coal Dust and Wet Dust Suppression.

Air Permit-Related Monitoring

Coal export terminals periodically conduct routine PM₁₀ monitoring as required by their minor New Source Review (NSR) permits.

PM₁₀: Dominion Terminal Associates, Kinder Morgen Bulk Terminals, the former Massey Terminal, and the Norfolk Southern Terminal have provided the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (VA DEQ) with 24-hour averaged PM₁₀ filter-based measurements collected on a one day in six days schedule. This monitoring is often conducted by a third-party contractor, for example, Simpson Weather Associates Inc.. The exact location of monitoring is not always apparent nor is it clear whether PM₁₀ measurements are currently being collected.

These data are typically discussed by terminal and VA DEQ employees in terms of identifying days when PM₁₀ mass concentrations exceed the 24-hour PM₁₀ National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) of 150 μg per m³. These data are not reported publicly but some reports are available through requests to the VA DEQ under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and are archived below. There are no recorded instances of 24-hour PM₁₀ concentrations being observed to exceed the 24-hour PM₁₀ NAAQS. However, there are periods where data are withheld or otherwise not reported for reasons that are unexplained.

PM₁₀ composition and particle size: In October 5, 1989, the IIT Research Institute analyzed the PM₁₀ composition of samples collected near Dominion Terminal Associates reporting: "raw coal represented 49% (40 μg/m³), 44% (52 μg/m³) and 27% (16 μg/m³) of the sample mass in the three full analysis samples with the highest PM₁₀ levels, and 18% (4 μg/m³) of the sample mass in the low PM₁₀ concentration sample (see Table 1). The mean particle size of the coal in each of the four samples was 8 μm." The particle size information is important because it highlights that most fugitive coal dust is much larger the PM₁₀ and therefore not regulated under the NAAQS.

Voices Network: Voices Organizing In opposition to Coal dust with Environmental Sensing

The VOICES Network: Voices Organizing In opposition to Coal dust with Environmental Sensing has measured PM₁, PM_2.5, and PM₁₀ across Southeast Newport News and Lambert's Point since October 2024. The monitors are maintained by the Repair Lab as part of the Coal Dust Kills campaign. Read about the VOICES Network here: VOICES: Voices Organizing In opposition to Coal dust with Environmental Sensing Network.

Tidewater Air Monitoring Evaluation (TAME)

The VA DEQ received $526,603 from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2020 to conduct the Tidewater Air Monitoring Evaluation (TAME), which according to the VA DEQ was motivated by community concerns about coal dust pollution. After multiple years of delays, data collection and analysis are yet to start with no timeline publicly available. TAME is described in detail here: Tidewater Air Monitoring Evaluation (TAME).

Documents

• Newport News to Analyze Smoke and Soot Nuisance in Garden-Shores Sector, Daily Press, April 4, 1954
• Study of Air Pollution Set to Start Soon, Daily Press, September 21, 1956
• 10 Dust Collection Stations, Daily Press, October 4, 1956
• Council, Daily Press, November 27, 1956
• Council, Daily Press, December 4, 1956
• C&O to Install Costly Equipment for Control of Air Pollution in NN, Daily Press, December 12, 1956
• Council Gets Air Pollution Control Plan, Daily Press, December 18, 1956
• Control of Fugitive Emissions from Open Coal Storage in Newport News, Virginia, 1987
• Public Health Implications of PM₁₀ Concentrations Collected near Lambert’s Point Coal Terminal, July 19, 2017

Air Permit-Related Monitoring

Dominion Terminal Associates

• IIT Research Institute, Air Monitoring Data Report, October 5, 1989

• Air Monitoring Data Report, March 12, 1992
• Air Monitoring Data Report, June 19, 1992
• Annual Update Report, Includes Air Monitoring Data, 2011
• Air Monitoring Data Report with Monitor Location Map, April 6, 2012
• Air Monitoring Data, December 7, 2015
• Air Monitoring Data with Discussion of Higher PM₁₀ Concentration Measurements, December 7, 2015
• Annual Update Report, Includes Air Monitoring Data, 2023

Norfolk Southern Terminal

• Annual PM₁₀ Monitoring Data Report for Norfolk Southern’s Coal Pier – Lambert's Point, Norfolk, Virginia, October 11, 2016