THE NEW YORK STATE

LEGISLATURE

August 16, 2021

Jeff Beswick, CEO

Tradebe|USA Headquarters
1433 E 83rd Ave, Suite 200
Merrillville IN 46410

Dear Mr. Beswick,

We write to express our concern about the contents of your Letter to the Editor published in the Albany
Times Union on August 11, 2021. We agree that the public deserves a “complete picture” of the Norlite
facility, regrettably the information you conveyed does not provide that.
You reference efforts to reduce emissions, “which already were orders of magnitude below permitted
levels,” write that Norlite offers “a safe and reliable facility” to dispose of hazardous waste, and claim
that “we continue to take steps to reduce dust from our site.” These claims run counter to the fact that, for
decades, the Norlite facility has been a serial violator of Federal and State regulations as indicated by the
sixteen (16) Orders on Consent Norlite has entered into with the New York State Department of
Environmental Conservation (DEC) during the last 30 years; as indicated by the most recent (May 2020)
settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regarding hazardous waste incinerator
violations; and as evidenced by the 2021 Notices of Violations issued by the NYS-DEC that resulted in
the New York State Attorney General’s ongoing investigation of the facility.
In your Letter to the Editor you state that you are “eager to answer community questions,” and you make
the claim that “Environmentally, Norlite is a win-win-win.”
We ask on behalf of the concerned community we represent:
*Is it an environmental “win” to have a decades-long record of violating the company’s mandated
Fugitive Dust Control Plan, thereby creating challenges, frustrations, and fears among area
residents who have had to deal with the results of Norlite’s failures to control its dust?
*Is it an environmental “win” to take the “baghouse dust” that is filtered out from the stack
emissions during the hazardous waste incineration process, and toss that “baghouse dust” on the
“muck piles” and incorporate it into Norlite products that are then sold for use in construction?
*Is it an environmental “win” to emit up to 50 pounds of mercury into the atmosphere every year,
a fact that came to the public’s attention after Norlite exceeded the allowable limits for mercury
emissions during its November 2020 Comprehensive Performance Test, resulting in the company
being required to alter its processes to be in compliance with what we consider to be excessively
high mercury emission limits?
Recently you and your colleagues have worked to portray Norlite as an environmentally responsible
company, seeking to be a good neighbor. Regrettably the company’s track record does not match that
rhetoric. Meeting those benchmarks you have set requires actually abiding by the oversight of the
regulatory agencies, adhering to mandates, and truly being responsive to the community.
Being a good neighbor means hearing the concerns of the community and then taking action, which has
not been done to date. The cold hard reality is that Norlite/Tradebe is mandated to follow their own dust
control plan and that clearly has not been followed. Covering the piles, addressing the baghouse dust
issues, and reducing mercury emissions are not items Norlite needs the DEC’s or the NYS Attorney
General’s permission to do. Norlite needs to take action and take action now!

As Norlite’s permits review process moves forward, be assured that we will be carefully focused on these
and other issues of concern relating to the hazardous waste incineration and mining operations in our
community.

Sincerely,

____________________________ __________________________
Assemblymember John T. McDonald III Mayor William T. Keeler

CC: NYS Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Basil Seggos