Dust Buster: Wilkinson to enclose shredder to quiet noise, trap emissions

Construction is under way at Wilkinson Iron & Metal on a structure to enclose, quiet and contain emissions from a $4 million metal shredder that has caused disruption at nearby Victoria Heights Elementary School.

The 70-foot by 45-foot building will be 50 feet tall and is designed to trap virtually all particulate emissions from the shredder, owner Jim Wilkinson said last week. The shredder has been operating since May at Wilkinson’s scrap metal recycling yard at 3145 E. 14th St.

In October, Victoria Heights Principal Michael Moreno filed a complaint with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, concerned about the watery eyes and scratchy throats reported by students and staff at the school after the shredder started operating.

TCEQ monitored the school grounds and the Wilkinson yard from Oct. 23 to Nov. 23, concluding that the air contained a high enough concentration of iron oxide — essentially rust — to constitute a clean-air violation, according to the TCEQ report on its investigation.

The athletic fields and open-air gymnasium at Victoria Heights, 2801 E. 13th St., butt up against the Wilkinson yard. In addition to complaints about watery eyes and scratchy throats, coaches have said it’s almost impossible to make themselves heard during outdoor athletics when the machine is running. Teachers complain it’s hard to keep students focused on their lessons because of the noise.

Moreno reported the noise situation to the BISD Police Department after an explosion, which appeared to come from the shredder, rocked the campus last fall.

Moreno said he was glad to hear that Wilkinson is taking steps to quiet the shredder and eliminate the mist of electric-smelling metallic dust that often wafts over his campus. He said fourth-graders at the school will take their TAKS writing test Wednesday and he hopes the machine will be quiet that day.

Last year Victoria Heights students scored high enough on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills to earn the Texas Education Agency’s best rating of exemplary. They hope to repeat the performance this year.

At Wilkinson, contractors are sinking pilings 10 feet into the ground to hold posts for the building. Plans call for twin heavy-gauge tin walls six inches apart. Foam insulation will be pumped into the gap to soundproof the building, Wilkinson said.

"They’re telling us the building will be up in 21 days," Wilkinson said. "It’s supposed to eliminate 70 percent of the noise ... and all that dust will fall down inside that building. It should quiet us down, as well as keep the emissions down."

As a first step, Wilkinson has put up a 30-foot wall along its boundary with Victoria Heights to cut down some of the noise and dust.

Wilkinson said the shredder would have to shut down during construction of the enclosure. The lost production and the cost of the building represent a "substantial" expense that Wilkinson said he is glad to absorb to address public health and safety concerns.

Meanwhile, Moreno’s original complaint to the TCEQ is "wending its way through the regulatory process," agency spokeswoman Andrea Morrow said. Eventually there will be an agreed order between Wilkinson and the TCEQ stating what the two parties agree needs to be done to address the complaint. It likely will formalize what has by then already been done, she said.

The fact that Wilkinson took action on its own would act to minimize any fine assessed against the company, Morrow added.