Asking IDEM for air quality hearing

Letter to the editor, March 1, 2025

IDEM is seeking to know if our community wants to have a public hearing about Air Quality issues around the JAEWON plant across the street from the battery plant. The 100,000 tons of volatile organic chemical slurry being recycled there for electric vehicle battery manufacturing needs to be monitored very closely for contaminants escaping into the environment.

This is the letter we sent back to IDEM, and we hope others will join us:

We, residents of Kokomo, IN, in Howard County are requesting a public hearing and/or public meeting concerning Significant Source Modification No.: 067-48511-00096 Significant Permit Modification No.: 067-48550-00096.

I first became concerned about this plant when I heard the quantity of NMP liquid being recycled in an area with a very high water table (100,000 tons). I researched the permitting and talked to Mary Armacost about the processing lines. Evidently, they were not in place yet in her first review. After reading the Keramida November report it further concerned me that our community leaders were not aware of the air quality concerns that needed to be addressed.

When we saw the very large distillation tower on site, we knew that it is essential to capture vapors, not just for worker and close proximity housing developments, but also the rest of our community. We sure would appreciate knowing more about what IDEM is requiring and how air quality will be monitored.

THANKS so very much for your consideration and invitation for input.

Very Sincerely,

Dr. David Ihms

Ann Ihms