Exide's Plans To Reopen Portion Of Shuttered Battery Plant Raises Neighborhood Homeowners' Environmental Concerns

In Bristol, Tennessee, the Bristol Herald Courier reports:

• Exide Technologies — which closed its Bristol, Tennessee, battery plant in 2013 — plans to restart a portion of the plant, and some local residents are worried it would negatively impact air quality.
  
  On Jan. 23, Exide filed a construction permit application with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation’s Division of Air Pollution to restart the plant’s formation room.
  
  The company, which previously made lead acid batteries for automobiles and other machinery, would fill, charge, cool and form dry unformed batteries to be sold offsite, according to the application.
  
  The details of the restart, including when it would open and how many would be employed, aren’t known. An Exide official didn’t return phone calls or emails Tuesday [March 14] from the Bristol Herald Courier and Bristol Tennessee City Manager Bill Sorah refused to comment.
  
  But a number of local residents are already voicing concern on social media. A petition on the website change.org, that seeks a meeting with TDEC, states that local residents deserve to learn more about the permit and plans for the community given Exide’s environmental safety record [for example, go here, and go here]. As of Tuesday night, the petition had been signed by 201 residents.

For the story, see Exide wants to restart part of Bristol battery plant; local residents worried about air quality. environmental protection agency EPA contamination lead foundry smelter