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A pilot who lives near the Superior Ready Mix plant took the pictures above and below. Circled in the photos are huge clouds of emissions apparently from the Superior Ready Mix/Canyon Rock plant at 7500 Mission Gorge Road, San Diego, CA 92120. The pilot took similar pictures over the course of several days. This means the dust apparently is not just from blasts. A lot of the dust is from everyday operations.
Some of the dust will fall back to the ground within SRM. But, once kicked up, a lot of the dust continues to be carried by the wind from Superior Ready Mix's property onto private and public property, where it can cause health and environmental ill effects. These images were taken around 2017, before community members started calling in complaints and demanding that something be done. 
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24 hours worth of dust on a car windshield. The owner lives in Allied Gardens, near Superior Ready Mix. This is a very frequent occurrence. |
Dust being kicked up as trucks drive within the Superior Ready Mix plant . Keeping the overall dust level at a minimum throughout the plant is very important in reducing the fugitive dust that is so annoying to neighbors. |
The Superior Ready Mix plant is so covered with dust that it almost looks like a snow scene. Notice how much dust is tracked off of the premises onto Mission Gorge Rd. |
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In 2014, Superior Ready Mix/Canyon Rock produced emissions of over 58 TONS per year of Total Suspended Particulates (TSP) and 4,258 pounds per year of crystalline silica. [2014 Source Emissions report]
Ready mix concrete plants can produce emissions we generally refer to as dust. Dust is comprised of small particles suspended in the air (total suspended particulates or TSP). This can also be called particulate matter (PM). Some of these dust particles are visible and settle relatively quickly; however the smaller particles can stay in the air for a long time. The larger particles are certainly a visual nuisance, but the smaller particles which are not visible to the naked eye are of greatest concern. Small particles less than 10 micrometers in diameter (PM10) can be breathed into the lungs, and therefore its health effects are more severe than large particles. Smaller particles, those less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter (PM2.5), can be breathed even more deeply into the alveoli of the lungs, where they remain for a long time and can cause the greatest amount of damage. It’s important to remember that neither PM10 or PM2.5 are visible to the naked eye, they travel MUCH farther than the heavier visible dust and are much more dangerous for us as our bodies cannot filter them out. PM10s generally come from natural sources like the rock dust etc, and the smaller PM2.5s come from combustion (especially diesel combustion). A lot of the trucks that go in and out of the Superior Ready Mix rock quarry are diesel. A lot of the plant machinery also uses diesel. At one point the plant, with APCD approval, scaled back on natural gas and changed over to diesel because natural gas was more expensive then diesel. One of the most damaging airborne particles from cement plants is silica. Silica can cause irreversible lung problems that can ultimately lead to death, and it can possibly increase cancer risk. How do you control silica dust? “Housekeeping procedures should be at the top of the list of dust control for silica, because a clean plant is generally a safe plant.“ [precast.org/2010/05/safety-clinic-silica-dust/] |