Category: 
The EPA has ordered Columbus Salame, a Bay Area Italian-meats producer, to upgrade its deficient refrigeration systems within 90 days, after one of two serious chemical leaks last year sent 17 employees at nearby Genentech to the hospital. But the long overdue order and the way the plant’s problems have been handled raise serious questions about the EPA’s oversight of the company.
Columbus Salame, according to the EPA, violated industry standards at its South San Francisco manufacturing plant. Most notably, Columbus used pipe fittings in its refrigeration equipment made from copper or brass, which corrodes in the presence of ammonia. It’s quite simple really: if you use ammonia as a coolant in your refrigeration system, as Columbus does, you don’t use copper or brass for piping. “That’s the Bible that they should be going by,” says Jeremy Johnstone, the EPA’s lead investigator.
Yet, despite twin leaks of 200-pounds worth of ammonia in February and August of last year—a violation of EPA clean-air standards—Columbus’ factory is still using copper or brass fittings, six months later.
Let me repeat that: Columbus had not one but two major ammonia leaks in February and August of 2009—one of which released a toxic cloud into the neighborhood, led to the evacuation of hundreds of locals, and sent workers at a major biotech firm to the hospital, one of whom remained hospitalized for four days—and yet the EPA hasn’t ordered the company to upgrade its facility until now. Hmmm …
Anhydrous ammonia, the precise coolant in question, is a poisonous gas whose vapors “can cause temporary blindness and eye damage, and irritation of the skin, mouth, throat, respiratory tract and mucous membranes,” and, in sufficient quantities, “serious lung damage and even death.” (For a visual representation of the dangers, click here for news reports from a 1976 deadly anhydrous ammonia spill in Texas.)
According to California Watch, the EPA inspected the problem factory in March 2009 after the first leak, which was contained within the plant without injury to its workers. So did the EPA simply not notice the piping problem (a violation of Biblical proportions, per Mr. Johnstone) or did it fail to convince Columbus to change its ways? And why wasn’t the plant immediately renovated after the second leak in August, which harmed dozens of people, temporarily closed local businesses, and led to the evacuation of hundreds?
After the second incident, the EPA inspected the facilities yet again, joined by San Mateo County’s Division of Environmental Health Services. The examination found serious problems with the company’s refrigeration systems—problems the EPA either failed to identify or allowed to fester after its March inspection.
What exactly caused the second leak in the plant? The EPA appears to be telling conflicting stories. According to its press release,
The facility’s accidental release in August was allegedly caused by a buildup of hydrostatic pressure in a section of piping which caused the subsequent rupture of a nearby component.
Simple enough. But Johnstone told the San Mateo County Times a different story:
The leak was apparently caused by a design error. A contractor working for Columbus had recently installed part of the refrigeration system on the plant’s roof, but it malfunctioned when it was turned on — sending ammonia spewing into the air, said EPA engineer Jeremy Johnstone.
The same article goes on to claim:
After the leak started a contractor turned a valve, stopping the flow of ammonia. But then a worker used a hose to spray the ammonia with water, which pushed more of the toxic chemical into the air and also into a nearby storm sewer, the order says.
Notice how there is no mention of a “rupture” in Johnstone’s account. If a rupture in fact caused the leak, as the EPA press release suggests, why would Johnstone cite other causes?
Columbus’ problems don’t end with ammonia leaks. None of the local media reports I’ve read even bothered to mention the four-alarm fire at a second South San Francisco Columbus Salame plant, in July of last year, which also sent toxic fumes into the air and led to the closure of a local Genentech childcare center. (Poor Genentech.) Initial reports blamed faulty electrical wiring, but I haven’t been able to determine from news reports what the fire investigators ultimately concluded. (I will look into this and report back.)
At this point, after such serious public-health violations and red flags, one would think the EPA would closely monitor Columbus’ renovations. But that’s not the impression the agency is giving: Columbus is merely required to submit documentation, within 105 days of the EPA’s order, demonstrating compliance.
More to come, as I learn more …
POSTSCRIPT: For the vegans out there, Columbus Salame (be sure to click for cheerful Italian accordion music) is a storied, popular, local brand of Italian meats sold everywhere from Trader Joe’s to Safeway. The company was founded in 1917 by two Italian immigrants, Domenici and Parducci, who started their own salami- and sausage-making company in their two-bedroom North Beach flat. Twice trading hands, the business has remained with local Italian-American families—DeMartini, Gatto, and Piccetti—who claim to share the same original commitment to the old-fashioned, passionate art of massaging pork into a salty, chewy, sliced disc of perfection.
In 1967, Columbus moved its plant to South San Francisco, where, according to the company, “it now represents one of the most sophisticated dry sausage plants in the world.” Columbus claims to have an obsession with excellence and a rigorous, uncompromising commitment to food quality. The company seems to have received glowing praise from local and national press. There. Don’t you want to go out and buy some?
Moral of the story: If you want to build a salami factory that will belch toxic fumes into the neighborhood, construct it in Bayview-Hunters Point, where you can do it with impunity.
