Southeast Portland’s Bullseye Glass had sales of $19.8 million last year according to a Nebraska data firm. Pollution controls on the furnaces state regulators believe have been spewing carcinogens would have cost a fraction of that.
That nearly $20 million sales figure, obtained by the company Infogroup, is interesting given estimates by two pollution-control experts the Mercury spoke with who say that Bullseye could have purchased systems to nearly eliminate the cadmium and arsenic that have escaped its stacks.
According to these industry experts—one a consultant, the other the vice president of a firm that has installed pollution control equipment on 22 glass manufacturers’ furnaces worldwide—Bullseye could have addressed its pollution problems for an initial cost of between $500,000 and $1 million. There’d be additional costs from changing the system’s filters every three to six years or longer.
Such systems—“baghouse” is the generic name, now being slowly outmoded as many manufacturers turn to ceramic filters—typically last 30 years or more. Spreading the costs over that period, Bullseye could have better safeguarded its neighbors’ health for between approximately $17,000 and just over $33,000 a year, the experts say. Again, the firm sold almost $20 million worth of glass last year.
The Mercury reached out to Bullseye co-owner Daniel Schwoerer about the seeming anomaly, but received no reply as of press time.
The 2015 sales figure comes from a report issued by an environmental data firm, ESRI. An ESRI spokesperson, Brian Peterson, confirmed the $19.8 million figure for Bullseye, and said the number had come from Infogroup, which would state only that it “makes 24 million calls annually to verify information with businesses.”
If that revenue figure is accurate, there’s little doubt Bullseye could have afforded to better control its emissions.
John Eleftherakis is a vice-president with Illinois-based Filtration Group, which has installed its ceramic air filters on glass furnaces around the globe. Told the general size of Bullseye’s annual glass-melt operations as described in its DEQ permit, he provided the estimate of $500,000 to $1 million for Bullseye to scrub its emissions of heavy metals. Though the technology has advanced markedly over the decades, he said systems to handle heavy metals have been available since the 1980s.
Other estimates line up with Eleftherakis’. Robin Frost, owner of Ontario-based Frost Emissions, both consults and helps install pollution control systems. Frost pegged Bullseye’s initial costs to install pollution controls at between $500,000 to $1.2 million. This, again, for a system that, with periodic upkeep, lasts for decades.
The relatively low cost of curbing Bullseye’s pollution would no doubt have fanned the flames at the community meeting held to address the issue on Tuesday at Cleveland High School. Anxiety morphed to frustration and then to anger as state officials uttered little of substance for close to three hours in reply to the questions, pleas, and demands of roughly 700 distraught Portlanders.
Tales of illness and death came from the crowd, lining up patiently at two microphones, and officials with the state Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) talked knowingly of epidemiology and the intricacies of air pollution permitting.
But there was scant mention of what might be done to safeguard the community from poisonous fugitive emissions from both Bullseye and its north Portland competitor, Uroboros Glass. There were audible groans from the crowd when DEQ permitting chief Dave Monro took the microphone for the umpteenth time and spoke consolingly of the need to gather data and then disseminate it properly.
Among concerns residents brought to officials: the Mercury‘s revelation Tuesday afternoon that glass-melt furnaces at Bullseye and Uroboros weren’t connected to pollution control devices. A reporter stepped to the microphone at one point to get an explanation from Monro on why the two glass makers lacked such equipment.
Monro replied that he didn’t think, given the high temperatures involved in making glass, that it was even possible to use such a control on their furnaces. The EPA says furnaces contribute “over 99% of the total emissions from a glass plant, both particulates and gaseous pollutants.”
But Monro is wrong, according to Eleftherakis, Frost, and the EPA.
While being interviewed, Frost read the Mercury’s Tuesday story, which reported Bullseye was allowing powder from its glass crushing operations to accumulate on its roof in 2013.
Seeing pictures of the powder spilling out of a pipe and collected in buckets, Frost said, “That’s like Eastern Europe 50 years ago.” He added: “That’s beyond negligent. It’s criminal. It’s arrogant.”
The practice of shooting powder onto the roof was described to DEQ in a March 2013 complaint. The agency closed its inquiry in two days, upon hearing from Bullseye that the matter would be dealt with. DEQ saw no need for further investigation.
The agency’s seeming obliviousness is evidenced by a 2012 DEQ document, which lists Air Toxics Specialist Sarah Armitage as the contact person. It says, “The Owens-Brockway Glass Plant is the only glass manufacturing facility in the Portland Air Toxics Solutions domain.” That’s not true. Uroboros and Bullseye are at least 40 years old. The ESRI report lists 28 glass manufacturers in Portland.
Interviewed on another matter, Armitage told the Mercury, “I think I didn’t know about the risks involved with glass myself. I didn’t know about it, though others in the agency may have.”
On another front, Bullseye’s British distributor, Glass Studio Supplies, published a statement from Bullseye on its website, and cited “panic buying” and the steps it’s taking to limit individual purchases.
Bullseye’s release on the site says, “For now, production on the following styles has been suspended (sheet, frit, stringer, etc). If you would like to purchase any of these styles, there is a limit of 5 pieces, per style, per month.”
The precise significance of the hopeful term, “per month” is unknown. Does Bullseye have enough cadmium-laden glass already on hand that it can foresee dribbling it out month by month? Or does it anticipate someday making more? Messages to Schwoerer were not returned.
Reached by phone and asked what percentage of Glass Studio Supplies’ total stock these 46 “styles” represent, a woman with the company said “I’m not interested in talking to you” and hung up.
Either way, it’s a lot of pretty glass. Glass that helped buy Schwoerer and his wife Lani McGregor’s home on the north coast of Scotland as well their lavish, art-filled home here in Portland.
Here’s a list of the glass products Bullseye has suspended.
Production on these styles have been suspended:
0024 Tomato Red
0025 Tangerine Orange
0120 Canary Yellow
0124 Red
0125 Orange
0126 Spring Green
0203 Woodland Brown
0220 Sunflower Yellow
0224 Deep Red
0225 Pimento Red
0227 Golden Green
0309 Cinnabar
0310 Umber
0320 Marigold Yellow
0321 Pumpkin Orange
0329 Burnt Orange
0334 Gold Purple
0337 Butterscotch
1022 Red-Orange (rod)
1025 Light Orange Striker
1119 Sienna
1120 Yellow
1122 Red
1125 Orange
1126 Chartreuse
1320 Marigold Yellow
1321 Carnelian
1322 Garnet Red
2020 Clear, Sunflower Yellow Opal
2024 Clear, Red Opal
2026 Clear, Spring Green Opal
2121 Yellow Opal, Deep Forest Green
2123 White Opal, Orange Opal
2124 Red Opal, White Opal
2125 Yellow, Red Striker
3123 White Opal, Orange Opal, Dp. Forest Green
3203 Woodland Brown Opal, Ivory & Black, Soft Rip
4011 AUTUMN: Orange, Yellow and Red on White
4111 AUTUMN: Orange, Yellow and Red on Clear
4112 SUMMER: Green and Yellow on Clear
4424 Red Chopstix
4211 Red, Orange, and Yellow Frit, Orange Streamers
4212 Dark Green, Spring Green, and Yellow Frit, Spring Green Streamers
4220 Canary and Sunflower yellow Frit, Sunflower Yellow Streamers
4223 Yellow, Blue, and Red Frit, Blue Streamers
4224 Red Frit, Red Streamers”
Daniel Forbes is the author of Derail This Train Wreck. He lives in Portland, and can be reached at ddanforbes@aol.com.
MORE COVERAGE:
State Finds Alarmingly High Arsenic, Cadmium Levels Near Two SE Portland Schools
Bullseye Glass Has Suspended Use of Arsenic and Cadmium Because of Air Quality Concerns
Portland Public Schools Is Ordering Air Tests Because of Arsenic, Cadmium Concerns: “We Need A Public Meeting”
Soil Near Bullseye Glass Contains Arsenic and Cadmium—And Other Things Officials Told Parents Thursday
Essential Pollution Controls Lacking at Two Glass Plants Blamed For Cadmium Emissions
* pushes glasses up, adopts most condescending possible voice *
Dan, it’s profit that matters, not revenue. If BG sold 20M on costs of 15M, then sure, this is easily do-able. But if they sold 20M on costs of 25M, then that’s a very different story. I’m not defending BG, only pointing out that using sales as your Villainy Yardstick is somewhat fraught.
(And a third-hand sales figure at that. Seriously, what private company tells cold-calling data miners their true earnings figures, or any figures at all? If Johnny Infogroup calls Steve Humphrey tomorrow, does Steve just rattle off the Mercury’s profit and loss sheet for him?)
How is this company’s rights any different than the rights of their neighbors? Corporations are people too after all. In fact it seems like the Mercury is saying we should discriminate against people who choose to exhale cadmium and arsenic rather than carbon dioxide. Shame on you Portland Mercury!
Who the F*ck is Daniel Forbes and why does he have such a hard on for Bulleyes. From where I sit he’s a self promoting, third tier writer of dystopian fiction “Mitchell Fremson finds himself an island of sanity battling a police state gone haywire”. Sounds more like David Fry than Erin Brockovich.
I seriously doubt the owners of Bulleyes woke up one morning and said lets kill some babies with our glass. This is SE Portland; historic home to rail-yards, battery recyclers, metal platers, body shops, auto salvage, metal shops, printers. There could be dozens of potential sources for hazardous chemicals. Is anyone checking the dirt around Free Geek. Just sayin. Let folks do their job instead of letting another PM hack try to earn his spurs on the back of a business that until now has been one of the darlings of the Portland manufacturing.
It’s a problem, they’ll fix it. Untwist your panties and find an organization that genuinely deserves serious scrutiny.
Keep up the good work, Daniel. The only thing that makes any of this a little bit better is knowing there are investigative journalists and citizens who won’t let this go until it’s OVER.
Bullseye continues to emit high levels chromium and other toxic metals. One of the two common forms of chromium is far more carcinogenic than cadmium.
Bullseye continues operating at the height of irresponsibility.
Thank you, Daniel. I am so grateful for your thoughtful and penetrating look into this. It’s revealed a lot of details that usually get lost. Personally, at the meeting on 2/8 at Cleveland High, I felt DEQ were condescending and tried the tactic of “blinding us with science”.
Thank you, Daniel. Your reporting has been tremendous. Creative, intrepid, cutting through the bullshit, putting things in context and clarifying the stakes. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
But you guys Bullseye didnt know those toxins would be harmful to the neighborhood.
DEQ said they were fine. Most company’s dont hire chemists or do any kind of research on harmful affects of the products they produce. They just let DEQ tell them what to do. They started their company 42yrs ago here because the laws were so strict on small company’s polluting the air and soil. The DEQ is such an amazing agency and expert on glass manufacturing that Bullseye didn’t have to do any research. DEQ has been BUllseye’s conscience for 42 yrs! Now thats the kind of team work that keeps neighborhoods safe! Who wouldn’t want a company like Bullseye in their neighborhood!
Great reporting, Daniel. The information you brought forth at both the meeting at Cleveland High school and through this report is greatly appreciated. As one of the many residents affected by the current situtation it gives me hope that people like yourself are bringing the issue to the forefront. Thank you.
Thank you for continuing to cover this unfolding story. It’s disturbing to see SE neighborhood parents posting reports of their children’s elevated cadmium and arsenic levels and photos post brain surgery. These children need an advocate, and I’m glad you have stepped up. Given the defensive comments on here (hello Bullseye employees?) it seems the pressure is working.
The exact figures don’t matter, the owners of Bullseye are wealthy and are spending exorbitant amounts of money renovating their mansion which illustrates that wealth. By cutting costs on proper pollution control they were able to pocket the difference. After all, they don’t have to live anywhere near the business, they can watch from on high as their employees and the children of the neighborhood choke on their emissions.
Daniel Forbes must’ve put out a call that his feelings were getting hurt and that he needed a bunch of compliments. That’s the only reason I can think of for all these obsequious comments.
Danny Boy, it’s not becoming to beg for praise. Try not to do it again.
EDIT: Wait, Daniel Forbes is still using an AOL email address?!??!!! How the fuck is anyone supposed to take anything he says seriously?! Someone tell this guy about Gmail.
Quote:
“Monro replied that he didn’t think, given the high temperatures involved in making glass, that it was even possible to use such a control on their furnaces. The EPA says furnaces contribute “over 99% of the total emissions from a glass plant, both particulates and gaseous pollutants.”
But Monro is wrong, according to Eleftherakis, Frost, and the EPA.'”
WOW…That’s Dave Monro chief permitter for DEQ. This is such a profoundly ignorant response from someone who should know exactly how effective a Donaldson Torit filter can be that it exposes really remarkable incompetence at the regulating agency. It’s what the filters are made to do.
For the owners of either company to suggest that they did not know Cadmium vapor might be an issue is equally remarkable. The arsenic is another interesting issue not yet well explored. It has also not dealt with Lead and Chrome
This is really like getting two drunks to go through an intervention. They simply can’t envision life without the sauce. Time to get their knees nailed to the floor and to beg forgiveness and to order the filtration systems tomorrow.
For what it’s worth, the home in Scottland is actually a castle.
Unless you moved to SE Portland before the turn of the last century you KNEW you were moving into the heartland of Portland’s industrial manufacturing community, and now you are shocked, SHOCKED that some of the grit in your “gritty little neighborhood” might not be good for your kids to eat. Who could of imagined. Unless you need this hand wringing to demonstrate your Portland Family street cred or you’re fishing for some of that sweet class action cash, Move. If you really care about your kids just move…otherwise you’re just whining
Two clarifications: First: “A reporter stepped to the microphone at one point to get an explanation from Monro on why the two glass makers lacked such equipment.” That reporter was Daniel Forbes (the author), right? Why be so mock-detached?
Second, doesn’t Bullseye have three plants (PDX, Oakland, Seattle)? If so, the $20 million revenue should be compared to the cost of scrubbing the stacks at all 3, right? So $1.5-3 million? Unless the devices are already installed at those sites?
Monro’s explanation was wrong, amazing in itself.
Further, don’t confuse Bullseye with Uroboros and Spectrum. Very different entities but the ones in Portland have the cadmium levels beyond acceptable norms. I find it fascinating that there are people scolding others about being upset over toxins in the air of a day care center. . 150 times the normal level acceptable? Really ? That’s OK?
Baghouses can be amortized like most other tooling. They are not obscenely expensive as many other glass manufacturers have found.
Here’s an informative comment about the history of the neighborhood from another article in this series: “But in the case of the neighborhood around Bullseye, most of the houses and schools predate much of the industrial development. Cleveland High School was built in 1929; Winterhaven was built (as Brooklyn Elementary) in 1930. Many houses in the area were built between 1905 and 1940. Bullseye started in 1974 – in the backyard of a residential house – and then took over much of a residential neighborhood. I agree that land use planners could have been more strict back then, but awareness of pollution wasn’t as strong in the past. Now that we know more, our government needs to step up.”
Daniel Forbes you pinhead. I’m skeptical you’ve ever started or run a business. You pull down Bullseye Glass’ revenues and put them forth as the amount of money they keep – clearly trying to paint the owners as greedy polluting robber barons. Are you such a simpleton that you don’t know that businesses have expenses and taxes, leaving them with a much much smaller figure called profit? The $19 million in sales pays for the operations, including raw materials, labor, administration, and other expenses, including efforts toward DEQ compliance, etc, leaving them with a small fraction of that number. And while we’re at it, Is DEQ so toothless and inept that they never could have required Bullseye Glass to add improved abatement systems? No comparison to Erin Brokivich, where waste was being thoughtlessly and intentionally dumped with no regulation. You’d do everyone much better to point that razor sharp investigative reporting skill of yours to finding out the numbers in perspective.
I am curious if the threats of violence and death against the employees and families of these local glass manufacturers will cause the Portland Mercury to analyze the writing style of Mr. Forbes. It’s obvious his intent in these blog entries is to frame as unflattering a picture of the companies, their owners and their employees as possible. The results of this irresponsibility is that the threat of violence has been invoked on internet forums.
Let’s be clear, each one of these companies is filled with hardworking americans who care about this issue deeply. To think otherwise is inhuman. The evidence is clear considering each one of the companies has responded to the requests made by DEQ. Each one is willing and able to work towards a solution. But now each one of the over 300 people employed at these companies, who are your neighbors here in Portland, fear violent reprisal and risk to their livelihoods. It’s a shame that decency has not prevailed. I pray the Portland Mercury take a look at the entire story that is unfolding before our very eyes.
ESRI isn’t environmental data firm. They are the largest maker of GIS (geographic information system) software in the world. DEQ uses it to make those maps they release. ESRI just happens offer Infogroup data through their Business Analyst product.
I know Daniel from the community and thank him. Polluters knew it was toxic, and they knew they could capture the toxins. – Ignore the trolls defending polluters.
There are almost no legal limits to dumping toxins in the air. It is fully legal dumping that mirrors the dumping in rivers over 100 years ago.
Profit driven institutions drive our lawmakers and our voting choices. Democrats created this toxic situation. The Dem. establishment has a majority in Salem ( Gov/House/Senate) . Even the “liberal” papers (Mercury/WWeek) keep this pattern going by ignoring campaigns of true progressives seeking clean air and endorsements. If the Mercury and readers want change, change your votes to locals who run for the Green Party and don’t cozy up to profit over people.
Our whole system is broken, but the revolution is coming.
Bad stupid meanie doody-head Daniel, how dare you write bad things about a business? THAT’S NOT GOOD JOURNALISM.