After a series of events that left the Loudon County Air Quality Task Force seeking sound leadership last year, the advisory committee, which kept a watchful eye on air pollution for about a decade in the county, is no more, according to former members.
Members said two events contributed to the group’s eventual decline: the passing of longtime advisory committee chairman Michael Crosby and former chairman Lewis “Charlie Brown” Garner taking a job in Chattanooga.
“It reached a point where it was difficult to get a chairman who could put in enough time, and then it became difficult to even get a chairman at all,” Don Miller, former task force member, said.
Miller stepped down last year after being part of the task force for more than a decade.
“Mike (Crosby) did such a good job of running that task force,” Sam Thomas, former task force member, said. “I think after he passed away I think just people didn’t have the time or availability to continue on it.”
Miller said that “at some point” the county will miss having the task force, noting that the panel’s past accomplishments over the years have included encouraging school boards to enforce an anti-idling policy for school buses, recommending that county commissioners institute a regulation to reduce open burning and working closely with Breathe Clean Air Action Team to get Tate & Lyle to reduce its emissions.
“We had a pretty good relationship with (Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation), and you could say, ‘Well, the county, you don’t have to have an air quality task force to do that. Why don’t you let the county commission do it?’” Miller said. “But, the county commission doesn’t have the time to do that with all the other issues they have to work on, and also in many cases doesn’t have the technical expertise.
“It’s not just a political issue,” he added. “It’s also a technical issue, and we had people on that task force who had a lot of good background in that area.”
Miller said an air quality committee forming again in the future could be possible, but its formation would depend on current air quality issues facing the county.
“I think the Task Force was a very vital part of Loudon County and helped the City of Loudon with all kinds of threats to clean air,” Sherry Lee, former task force member, said in an email correspondence. “... In addition, the Task Force had no authority to enact the recommendations it made. It did, however, make the corporations and TDEC accountable for creating additional air pollution problems and I think prevented some of these problems from getting worse.”
Lee said an air quality committee would need backing of the county and both municipalities in order to succeed. She said the board should be given “some authority to enact recommendations and that can be agreed upon ahead of time.” Board members must also be committed to serving on the committee.
Gerry Schleuter, Tate & Lyle plant manager, said the company would continue to support an air quality committee if county officials considered reforming the group.
“That committee was formed by the Loudon County mayor, the city of Loudon mayor and the Lenoir City mayor originally, and Tate & Lyle agreed to support that committee because the mayors wanted that committee formed, and I think Tate & Lyle would continue to support that committee if that’s what the mayors wanted,” Schleuter said.
Former Loudon County Mayor Estelle Herron had indicated she wanted to search for new leadership before disbanding the committee, and said the board could stay in limbo indefinitely.
Loudon County Mayor Rollen “Buddy” Bradshaw said he planned to look further into the committee’s status and talk to county commissioners about potentially reforming the task force.
“I think it’s something we’re going to have to look at and see is that something we need, and I think as we continue to grow, I think it may be something that would be helpful to the tax base and to the residents here in the county,” Bradshaw said. “I’m certainly going ... to look into, you know, is this something we need and bring before commission to see if, how their constituents would feel to see if it’s something we need to reestablish and start again.”
County Commissioner Matthew Tinker said the county could have a need for an air quality committee.
“I think it’s very important to have,” Tinker said. “You know, we’ve got a lot of manufacturers and industrial parks. We need to make sure that the air quality is good for all of the citizens of Loudon County, and I know that the businesses follow the regulations and guidelines set by (Environmental Protection Agency), but we need to — yeah, I see a need for an air quality group.
“I don’t know who all really needs to be on it,” he added. “That’s something I’d have to look and see who’s been on it in the past and what their qualifications were and what all they’re going to be testing for or if they’re just gathering information.”
