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Board renews Peak Materials permit with new air-monitoring and removal conditions
Summary
The Grand County Board approved a five-year renewal for Peak Materials' special-use permit for its Fraser Valley asphalt plant with firm conditions: removal of old silos by June and ongoing coordination between the company's monitors and Grand County Public Health. Health data showed PM and CO below EPA standards; some VOCs were detected at low levels, including benzene.
The Grand County Board of Commissioners voted to renew Peak Materials' special-use permit for its County Road 5 gravel and asphalt operation after hearing staff, public-health and neighborhood concerns.
Community Development staff recommended a five-year renewal with a key condition: the operator must provide an updated lease by Oct. 1, 2026, or the permit will expire on Oct. 31, 2026. Staff also required removal of an old asphalt plant and two silos; the board set a hard compliance date and enforcement schedule if the equipment remains in place.
Public Health presented monitoring data collected August 10—Oct. 31, including continuous PM2.5/PM10 and CO readings and canister VOC sampling. Jason Bodacammer, Public Health, said the continuous PM and CO results were "well below all applicable EPA standards" and described the canister results: several VOCs measured slightly above a one-in-a-million excess-cancer benchmark but only benzene could plausibly be linked to petroleum combustion. "Benzene'was the one that was over that one excess case in 1,000,000 exposed people," Bodacammer said, while stressing it could come from many sources.
Neighbors urged additional mitigation. Remote commenter Sherry Swanberg told the board, "But bottom line, there still is an odor problem," and asked county staff to post monitoring data publicly and to push the operator for screening and aesthetic improvements. Peak Materials representatives described their on-site continuous monitors and offered to coordinate data comparisons with Public Health.
Commissioners directed staff to make Public Health findings available on the county website, to coordinate regular comparisons between the company's and the health department's monitors, and to require the operator to remove specified old equipment by June. Community Development staff said the removal condition will be enforced and returned as a violation if unmet. The board approved the permit renewal with those conditions.
