O 7 PHYTOTOXICOLOGY SECTION INVESTIGATION IN THE VICINITY OF JOHNSON CONTROLS INC., BATTERY GROUP (FORMERLY VARTA BATTERY LTD.) ST. THOMAS - 1990 APRIL 1992 Environment Environnement Ontario ISBN 0-7729-9450-1 PHYTOTOXICOLOGY SECTION INVESTIGATION IN THE VICINITY OF JOHNSON CONTROLS INC., BATTERY GROUP (FORMERLY VARTA BATTERY LTD.) THOMAS ST. - 1990 ARB-054-91-PHYTO Report Prepared By: R.D. Jones Phytotoxicology Section Air Resources Branch Ontario Ministry ofthe Environment APRIL 1992 o Cette publication technique n'est disponible qu'en anglais. Copyright: Queen's Printer for Ontario, 1992 This publication may be reproduced for non-commercial purposes with appropriate attribution. PIBS 1908E log 91-2231-054 Background Johnson Controls Inc., Battery Group (formerly VartaBattery Ltd.) began operationin St. Thomas in 1981. A pre-operational Phytotoxicology Section vegetation assessment survey was conducted in 1980. Vegetation surveys have been conducted every year since 1980, exceptfor 1981 and 1988 (1,2,3,4,5,6 and 7). Soil surveys were conducted in 1980, 1981 and 1982 (see AppendixAforasummaryofsurvey activities). Thecompanyis locatedonthenortheastoutskirtsofSt.Thomas inanindustrialparkthatis onlypartiallydeveloped. Someofthelandisstillbeingfarmed. Thereare someresidencesinthe immediate area. Johnson Controls Inc., Battery Group is primarily a source of lead emissions, althoughsmalleramountsofantimonyareemitted. Elevatedconceno-ationsofleadandantimony havebeendetectedin vegetationinthe immediatevicinityoftheplant. Becauseofthe lackofsuitable speciesofvegetation forsampUngin theimmediatevicinity ofthecompany, anannualmoss bagsurveywas establishedin 1984tobetterdelineate thepattern ofatmospheric deposition (8). These moss bag surveys have shown apatternofaccumulationof leadandantimonydownwindfromthecompanyto adistanceofapproximatelyhalfakilometer. Theconcentrations oflead and antimony in vegetation andmoss bags have been gradually increasing since the survey started. Thehighestlevels werereachedin 1986. In thelate summer of1986thecompanyhadreportedtotheregionalMOEofficethatapotentialsourceoftheemissions had been foundand abatement action was taken to correct the problem. The results ofthe 1987 surveyshowedasignificantdecreaseintheleadlevelsinbothvegetationandmossbags (1). The antimonylevelsdidnotshowacorrespondingdecreasein 1987. Nineteeneightyninewasthefirst yearsince 1982inwhichthe concentrationsofleadandantimonyintreefoliagedidnotexceeded thePhytotoxicologySection'sUpperLimitofNormalguidelinesfortreefoliage,atsamplestations closetothe source. Methods On May 30, 1990 Mr. R.D. Jones ofthe Phytotoxicology Section established a 13 station moss bag survey in the vicinity ofJohnson Controls Inc., Battery Group, St. Thomas (seeFigure 1). Allofthemoss bagstationswereinthe samelocations asthepreviousmossbagsurveys. The mossbags werechangedmonthly,onJune29,andJuly 30. Themoss bags at Station 11 werelost for the frrst two months due to the hydro pole supporting the bag being removed during road construction. ThelastmossbagswerecollectedonAugust30,atwhichtimeduplicatetreefoliage samples were collected at six locations aroundJohnson Controls Inc., Battery Group (see Figure 1). The foliage was collected from the same trees as in the 1987 survey. The samples where collectedusingstandardPhytotoxicologysamplingtechniques (9). All samples weredeliveredtothePhytotoxicology Sectionsample processinglaboratoryin Toronto where they were dried and ground before being submitted to the Inorganic Trace Con- taminants Section,Laboratory Services Branch forchemicalanalysis. Allofthemoss bags from thethreemonthlycollectionsweresubmittedasone submissionatthe sametimeas thevegetation samples. Thesampleswereanalyzedforlead,antimony,zinc,cadmium,copper,nickel,cobaltand aluminum. ARB-054-91-PHYTO Figure 1: Sketch Map Showing the Approximate Locations of the Vegetation and Moss Bag SamplingStationsintheVicinityofJohnsonControlsInc.,BatteryGroup,St.Thomas, 1990 Results Theresultsoftheanalysisoflead, antimony,cadmiumandzincintreefoliagearegivenin Table1. Theresultsfortheanalysisofcopper,nickel,cobaltandaluminumintreefoliagearegiven inTable2. Allofthereportedtreefoliageresults arethe meanofduplicate samples. Theresultsofthe analysisoflead, antimony, cadmiumand zinc in moss bags are given in Table3. Theresultsfortheanalysisofcopper,nickel,cobaltandaluminuminmossbagsaregiven inTable4. Allresults areexpressed as |ig/g on adry weight basis. Phytotoxicology "UpperLimitof Normal"(ULN)Ruralguidelines foreachelementarereponedatthebottomofeachtable. Where resultsexceedtheULN guidelines theresultsareshowninboldunderlinedtypeface. 2- ARB-054-91-PHYTO Table 1: ResultsofChemicalAnalysisforLead,Antimony, CadmiumandZincinTreeFoliage Collectedin the VicinityofJohnsonControlsInc., St.Thomas,August30, 1990 Station Number Table3:ResultsofChemicalAnalysisforLead,Antimony,CadmiumandZincinMossBagsintheVicinityof JohnsonControlsInc.,BatteryGroup,StThomas,June,JulyandAugust,1990 ChemicalAnalysisResultsbyElementandMonth(ng/gdryweight) Station Lead Antimony Cadmium Zinc Number June July August June July August June July August June July August 1 Discussion Lead and antimony levels in tree foliage were lowerin 1990 comparedto 1988 and 1989. Thelevels ofleadandantimonyin treefoliage atthefourstations closesttothecompanywereat orbelowthe 1980pre-operationallevels(seeFigures2and3). Whiledeclinesinleadlevelsinti-ee foliagehadbeenobservedin 1988and1989,thisisthefirsttimetherehasbeenasignificantdecline inantimonylevels sincetheplantstartedoperation. Theleadandantimonylevelswerestillhigher tiian the two control stations indicating thatthe plantis still aminorsource ofleadandantimony emissions. FigLTe2:AverageLeadLevelsinMapleFoliageIwSlalionsl.2,3and4 Rgije3AverageAntmonyLevelsinMapieFoliageforStationst,2,3and4 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 Thelevelsofcadmium,zinc,copper,nickelcobaltandaluminumintreefoliagewerealllow and showedno pattern ofdecreasing concentration with increasing distance from the plant. The results for these elements were similar to previous years. This was tiie fu-st year in which tiiere werenoexceedencesoftheUpperLimitofNormalintreefoliageforanyoftheparameterstested. Leadlevels in moss bags in 1990 were similar to previous years. However, the pattern of decreasing concentration with increasing distance was not as strong as in previous years. There were significant differences from month to montii. On average, the June levels were tiie lowest andtheAugustlevels were thehighest. While there wereasignificant numberofexceedences of theRuralUpperLimitofNormalforleadinmoss bags, especiallyin August, therangeofvalues wasverysmall. Thedifferencebetweenthehighestlevelandlowestwere,onaverage,onlyafactor oftwo. Antimonylevelsinmossbagsweresignificantiylowerin 1990comparedto1989. Antimony concentrationsinmossbagsin 1989rangedashighas6.9ppm,whilein 1990thehighestlevelwas 1.5 ppm. Asin 1987 and 1989, there were anumberofexceedences ofthe RuralULN guidelinesfor zincinmoss bags in 1990. The 1990levels were similartothe 1989results. There was asimilar patternforcopperandnickel. Theseelevatedvaluesofzinc,copperandnickel arenotseeninthe vegetation. With the exception ofthe exceedences ofthe ULNs at Station 9, all ofthe elevated levelsoftiiesemetalswerelocatedimmediatelyeastoftiiecompany. Thispatternwasnotobserved invegetation. -5 ARB-054-91-PHYTO Summary ThelevelsofleadandantimonyinvegetationintiievicinityofJohnsonControlsInc.,Battery Group,St.Thoi-nasdeclinedin1990comparedto1989. Thedeclineinleadlevelsfollowsthetrends observedinthepastcoupleofyears,andlevelsarenowdowntopreoperationallevels. Thedecline inantimonylevelswas thefirstsignificantdeclineobservedsincethecompany startedoperations. Thedecline in antimony was alsoobserved in moss bags. The levels oflead in moss bags were similarto those ofpreviousyears. Howevertherangeofleadlevels betweenthecontrols andthe closeinstationswasnotasgreatasinpreviousyears. Thepatternofdecreasingleadconcentration inmoss bags withincreasingdistancewas alsonotasdistinctasin 1987 and 1989. As inprevious years, there were numerous exceedenceoftheULNs forcopper, nickel and zincinmossbagsnearthecompanybutcorrespondinglevels were notobservedinvegetation. 6- ARB-054-91-PHYTO