The town of Mancos and wood-products factory Western Excelsior are have formed a community committee to analyze emission impacts.
Participants include Town Administrator Andrea Phillips and Mancos board member Mathew Baskin, along with Western Excelsior staffers Kyle Hanson and Fred Christianson.
“We’re finding out the facts and coming up with solutions,” Phillips said.
Marcia Porter-Norton has been hired to facilitate the meetings. The next meeting will be in mid-January.
Western Excelsior is working with the Colorado Department of Health and Environment on a new air emissions permit.
A 30-day comment period for the permit ended Friday and is under review by CDPHE. It is expected to be finalized soon.
The permit will identify point-source pollution at the plant and set threshold standards for emissions.
A key aspect of the proposed permit is for Western Excelsior to install a bag house to capture smaller particulate emissions. A cyclone unit currently captures the larger particulates emitted.
As part of the information gathering plan, Phillips is seeking a public health study on pollution issues in Mancos. The health department at the University of Colorado Denver has been approached to see if they are interested in conducting the study.
The town worked with the Western Excelsior to mitigate blowing debris from one of its entrances. The company agreed to relocate a gate on the southern entrance that was causing pollutants to blow into nearby residences.
The town then spent $2,000 to build a landscaped berm at the old gate location and plant poplar trees that will grow tall and work as a buffer against blowing debris.
Phillips said the town is trying to solve the pollution problem from many different angles.
“We want the company to be successful and keep them here while also controlling particulate emissions,” she said.