Pima County, Arizona, September 17, 2021 – The Pima County Department of Environmental Quality (PDEQ) is opening a 90-day public comment period today in order for the public to provide comments on the proposed Becton, Dickinson & Company Air Quality Permit. PDEQ will also host a virtual Open House on October 6, 2021, 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. and an in-person Open House on October 27, 2021, 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. at Lauffer Middle School, 5385 E. Littletown Road, Tucson.

All in-person attendees are encouraged to be vaccinated for COVID-19 and masks will be required. A virtual Public Hearing will be held on November 3, 2021, 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. The purpose of these meetings is to share information and obtain public comments on the proposed issuance of the BD air quality permit. Written comments regarding this project will be accepted by PDEQ during the official Public Comment Period which begins on September 17, 2021, and ends on December 17, 2021.

BD proposes to construct and operate a new product sterilization facility at 7345 E. Valencia Road, Tucson. Emissions of hazardous air pollutants from the proposed facility will consist primarily of ethylene oxide (EO) resulting from the use of EO as a sterilant in the sterilization of medical and surgical equipment. EO is a colorless and flammable gas with a faintly sweet odor. The facility will also operate three boilers and two emergency generators as ancillary equipment.

The air quality analysis submitted with the applications demonstrates that the impact from the proposed project will remain approximately five times below the safe ambient air concentration level of 2.0 x 10-2 µg/m3 prescribed by the EPA IRIS database and determined to be adequately protective of the public health.

Access to the virtual Open House and Public Hearing will be made available on the PDEQ Public Notice webpage https://bit.ly/37gdbWP. Any interested person may submit written comments on the proposed permit during the public comment period. Persons who submit comments to PDEQ should state:

All comments received during the comment period will be included in the administrative record and will be available to the public. The public comment period for the proposed permit ends will end on December 17, 2021, at 5:00 pm. To be considered, written comments should be postmarked no later than such date and time.

Comments should be submitted to: Rupesh Patel, Air Program Manager Pima County Department of Environmental Quality 33 N Stone Avenue, Suite 700 Tucson, AZ 85701 e-mail comments to: Air.permits@pima.gov or through the online public comment form

All data submitted by the applicant is available as part of the administrative record. The administrative record, including copies of the proposed permit, original and supplemental applications, fact sheet, and other supporting documents may be viewed between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, at PDEQ, 33 N Stone Ave., Tucson. Most documents in the administrative record may also be obtained online at PDEQ’s website.

For more information, contact Natalie Shepp at 520-724-6885, or natalie.shepp@pima.gov.

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re: “The air quality analysis submitted with the applications demonstrates that the impact from the proposed project will remain approximately five times below the safe ambient air concentration level of 2.0 x 10-2 µg/m3 prescribed by the EPA IRIS database and determined to be adequately protective of the public health.” The actual value is .0038 as provided by BD modeling of impact at a nearby distance. What BD fails to mention is that the current standard you cite is 100 times more lenient than the previous standard, by fiat of the W. Bush administration in 2008 as a political gift to polluters. By the previous standard, which had been in effect since the law’s inception, BD will be emitting 19 times the previously acceptable level. BD has been caught multiple times emitting EtO from sterilization facilities at levels that require reporting to authorities without filing said notices, so the argument that the level in the proposal “will remain” at ANY value defies credulity.

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