The Arizona Portland Cement plant is on the outskirts of the community of Rillito, which lies just west of Interstate 10, at top of this photo.

Jim Davis / Arizona Daily Star

More Photos (1):

Other articles by Andrea Kelly:

Road runner : Crosswalk, 4-way stop baffle some motorists County hopes to buy, save Hohokam site New team to run Rio Nuevo projects Ghost Ranch project still alive Recent fights at state prison could cost county Developers evicting Rialto Foundation Road runner : I-10 work going well, traffic tie-ups aside Road runner : Fewer deaths tied to dip in rural driving RTA: Don't blame us for water feeRoad runner: Dump the Pump encourages leaving car at home for a day

Trades/Construction
RANCHO RESORT
MAINTANANCE POSITION Administrative & Professional
Jorgensen Brooks Group
Counselor Mechanical
Komatsu Equipment Co
Resident Field Mechanic Administrative & Professional
Tucson Urban League
CEO/President Finance and Accounting
Charles E. Gillman Company
Accounting Specialist Sales and Marketing
Everready Glass
Sales Reps

Arizona Portland Cement was fined $300,000 by the state Thursday for air-quality violations at its plant near Rillito dating back to 2002.

The company, under its parent name California Portland Cement, was fined for state and federal air-quality violations, failing to submit test reports from the manufacturing plant, failing to install the required temperature monitors by deadline and failing to submit compliance reports.

The fine is among the larger fines the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality has issued, said DEQ Director Steve Owens.

The settlement with the state, in addition to the $300,000 fine, requires annual tests to monitor pollutant emissions from the plant on the Northwest Side, although Owens said the site will be monitored more frequently because of the violations.

The company also must take steps to ensure that any materials it uses don't violate air-pollution standards.

Arizona Portland Cement will also be required to reduce dust on Contractors Way, an unpaved community road linking the company to Rillito.

The company will also have to install a ventilation system and air purifiers at the Rillito Community Center and provide air purifiers to Rillito residents.

Rillito is a small community on the west side of Interstate 10 near Marana.

The air-quality violation stemmed from dioxin and furan emissions, which are cancer-causing, Owens said. "We don't believe that, based on the levels that were there, that there is any actual health impact to the community," he said.

All violations have been brought into compliance, said Rick Patton, senior vice president of operations in the cement division of California Portland Cement.

"We totally agree; we take responsibility for our operations there," Patton said. "It happened in 2002, and we've definitely been working with ADEQ on this issue since that time."

Among some of the measures taken, Patton said, the company stopped using an aluminum-based cement additive, which was causing the high emissions.

Before the federal and state requirement to monitor those emissions, the company periodically tested for dioxin and furan emissions, and the Arizona plant had always been at low levels, Patton said.

"We had tested for them several years ago, and they were just about nonexistent in our stack, and so we thought it was a nonissue there," he said. "When we tested in end of 2002, we saw a high number there."

Initially, it seemed like an anomaly, but the company had to report the test results to the state, he said. Retesting confirmed the emissions were higher than they were in other years.

Because the plant waited until late in 2002 to do the testing, it submitted the results late, which was another problem, Owens said.

Continental Ranch resident Linda Miller has been on an informal air-quality committee in the community for about five years. The group has monitored the violations and ADEQ's response.

"At least something's being done," she said. "That's all we're asking is, just do the right thing."

She said residents of Continental Ranch, which is in Marana, are not trying to shut down the cement plant or have any negative effects on the employees, but want to make sure area residents are safe.

"If they start proving (themselves), well you feel more comfortable, and if they haven't in the past, you're very skeptical," she said.

She said she was happy the settlement included air purifiers for Rillito.

Owens said the fine is among the highest he's issued for air-quality violations.

"I think the largest air-quality penalty during this administration was about $545,000 in Kingman — that was on the upper end. This is certainly one of the larger ones," he said.

On StarNet: Find more environmental news at www.azstarnet.com/environment