Sample cases
Ship's Captain Arrested for Alleged Opacity Violation
Idling engines in the heat of a San Diego summer landed a ship's captain in jail after he refused to discontinue the operation. The police were called and contacted the local air pollution control authority to perform a visible emission reading on the ship's emissions. The ship's owners retained legal counsel who hired CAA to review the opacity observation documentation, including several photographs.
The ship had a twin stack system, and from the observation point the reader did not have a clear view to ensure that they were looking through only one diameter, and the sun angle and wind were not ideal. CAA's findings created reasonable doubt, and the ship's captain was released within days of consulting with CAA.
Cement Storage — Batch Plant Facility
Neighbor complaints resulted in a local agency visiting a cement batch plant and issuing a notice of violation for numerous items, including housekeeping issues, fugitive dust, and a specific opacity violation. The opacity violation was $32,500, and the other violations totaled $32,500, resulting in fines of $65,000.
The core issue of the neighbor's complaint was the opacity violation. CAA reviewed the agency's opacity reading and ascertained that the sun was not in the 140-degree sector behind the observer's back. The opacity violation was voided. The facility was able to negotiate a settlement which did not admit guilt and paid $650 for the opacity violation.
Using Photographs
A grain loading facility had numerous photographs attempting to show the dust levels greatly exceeded the opacity limits. Compliance Assurance Associates, Inc. provided consultation services explaining photos could not be used as evidence of opacity levels but could be used to show the context such that dust is blowing over the property boundary/line. The case was settled between the complainant and the facility in an undisclosed and sequestered manner.
