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� � Asp�alt... continued from page 1 Department, and an air emission risk analysis was done. That analysis concluded that health risk esrimates for the facility are in com- pliance with and well below established state and federal facility health risk guide- �ines, but many felt that the EAW did not iully address the potenrial impact of the proposed plant. The MPCA has received more than 160 comment letters regarding the findings of the EAW from concerned cesidents, government officials and local �usinesses, and the MPCA will take these �etters into consideration to determine whether or not additional environmental review is necessary. � ; Effects on businesses ° Gretchen Ternes, who owns Ternes- �urton Co., a manufacturing company khat produces specialized pre-press equip- ment at 2328 Terminal Road, said she has several concerns about the proposed plant. Ternes rents out office space next to her business, and said she worries that �aving an asphalt plant so close would make it harder to find and keep tenants �nd affect her rental rates. She also wor- �ies that property values on her block will �ecrease. ' Despite those fears, Ternes said she �ioesn't feel her business will be jeopar- �iized if the plant is built. However, she �aid she worries for other local businesses �hat will likely be more affected, including pthers that rent out space near the pro- �osed site and the Old Dutch potato chip plant located at 2375 Terminal Road. The plant, which is located within 500 �eet of the proposed asphalt plant site, �rocesses potatoes into potato chips. � President and CEO of Old Dutch Foods tnc. Steve Aanenson said their product is �otorious for absorbing odors and that d. . . - - - son said. Trudgeon added that since then, the norification process has been expanded so that residents who live near the plant in the neighborhood south of Hwy. 36 will be notified of when plans for the plant will go before the ciry council. Health concerns Other local businesses have e�ressed concerns about potential health hazards that may be generated by the plant. Henry Schultz, general manager at Northstar, located at 2341 Saint Croix Street, said he would like further envi- ronmental review to address concerns about pollurion that may be created by the plant. "We would like to see what kind of impact that may have on the air we breathe," Schultz said. Carol Arens, owner of Jack and Jill Childcare located at 2812 Anthony Lane South, and several of the childcare cen- ter's employees sent letters to the MPCA asking them to take into considerarion the health and safety of children at the center. In her letter to the MPCA, Arens said even minimal amounts of pollution gen- erated by the plant could be harmful. "The chemicals are dangerous," Arens said, "and it would be undesirable to find out in several years that our children were e�osed to harmful:chemicaLs that migrated through soil and were present in the air." Arens also asked the MPCA to consider how children at the center may also be adversely affected by odors and noise generated by the plant. - Mounting opposition In an attempt to stop the asphalt plant from being built, a group of nearby resi- dents have formed a non-partisan group called Neighbors Against the Asphalt Plant (NAAP). Members of NAAP have contacted sev- eral local childcare faciliries and found tl�at R2 nf rha rl,;l�l.o„ .,* rl..,�o ..o„�or� �-