📷 Image: Wikimedia Commons / JJ Harrison (https://www.jjharrison.com.au/)
Health
Company's Silica Emissions Occasionally Breach Federal Limits, Monitoring Shows
✍️ WNDU
🗓 23 Oct 2026, 08:20 AM
👁 13
Air‑monitoring data reveal that the company's silica levels have at times surpassed the limits set by federal regulations.
Air‑monitoring records released by the agency indicate that the firm’s silica concentrations have intermittently exceeded the thresholds mandated by federal law.
The monitoring program, which samples ambient air at the plant’s perimeter on a daily basis, compares measured values against the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s permissible exposure limit of 50 micrograms per cubic meter over an eight‑hour work shift.
When readings cross the limit, workers may face increased risk of respiratory illnesses such as silicosis and lung cancer, prompting regulators to consider enforcement actions or mandatory mitigation measures.
Company officials have been notified of the findings and are expected to submit a corrective action plan to bring emissions back within compliance.
The monitoring program, which samples ambient air at the plant’s perimeter on a daily basis, compares measured values against the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s permissible exposure limit of 50 micrograms per cubic meter over an eight‑hour work shift.
When readings cross the limit, workers may face increased risk of respiratory illnesses such as silicosis and lung cancer, prompting regulators to consider enforcement actions or mandatory mitigation measures.
Company officials have been notified of the findings and are expected to submit a corrective action plan to bring emissions back within compliance.