CAMARILLO : 3M Plant to Install New Equipment for Emissions Cleanup

Camarillo’s 3M plant has announced plans to install $8.1 million worth of equipment in the second phase of a project to cut its chemical emissions by 76%.

The plant, which manufactures computer tapes, has cut its toxic chemical emissions by 37% since October, Larry Thomason, 3M facility manager, said Friday.

The plant was the leading producer of toxic chemical emissions in 1988 in the county, according to the most recent U.S. Environmental Protection Agency report.

The Ventura County Air Pollution Control District estimates that the 3M plant remains the biggest polluter in the county in terms of chemicals that produce ozone in the atmosphere, said district official Keith Duval.

Methyl ethyl ketone, a solvent, is the primary constituent of 3M’s emissions.

The chemical may be linked to birth defects and can damage the central nervous system, producing headaches, nausea and blurred vision, depending on the level of exposure, a state health official said.

In the recently completed first phase of the project, emissions dropped from 400 tons a year to 254 tons a year. In the second phase, which should be in place by March, 1992, emissions should fall an additional 159 tons a year, lowering the total to 95 tons a year.

New ducts have been installed and venting systems improved.

In the next phase of the project, filters will be installed to separate the solvent from the air, Thomason said.

“This is really advanced, state-of-the-art equipment,” said Duval.