A decade ago, a class project in Jim Diamond’s Linfield College chemistry classes had a major impact on a proposed industrial plan in Oregon.
On Wednesday, April 15, Diamond, professor of chemistry at Linfield, will discuss the project when he speaks on “Stratospheric Ozone Depleting HCFC 142b, Ten Years Later: Global Warming Consequences, Alternatives and What’s to Come,” at 7 p.m. in 201 Riley Hall at Linfield College.
In 2005, Diamond and his Chemistry in the Atmosphere class saw the following announcement from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality:
“The Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has scheduled a public hearing to receive comments on a proposed air quality permit for a new Owens Corning Corporation polystyrene foam insulation board manufacturing facility in Gresham…
“The foam manufacturing processes will use and emit the non-criteria air pollutant 1-chloro 1, 1-difluoroethane, a halogenated chlorofluorocarbon (HCFC-142b), regulated under Title VI of the Clean Air Act. The company proposes to emit 283 tons of HCFC-142b per year.
“HCFC-142b is an ozone-depleting chemical that also is a greenhouse gas. It is nontoxic to people. The amount of HCFC-142b that this new facility will emit will be the equivalent to the greenhouse gasses associated with 100 more cars on the road.”
Diamond and his class found that DEQ erred in estimating the impact by a factor of more than 1,000 times, and testified at the permit hearing, leading to a Portland Tribune headline, “Same as 100 cars? More like 110,000,” and lawsuits against the manufacturer Owens Corning and DEQ.
Diamond will provide a retrospective of the Owens Corning case and decision, and the relation between stratospheric ozone depletion and global warming, with a look at current circumstances and what is to come.
Diamond has been at Linfield since 1991 and teaches chemistry in the atmosphere, general chemistry, physical chemistry, research methods and research and writing in chemistry. He has a bachelor’s from St. Josephs University and a Ph.D. from Stanford University.
The lecture is free and open to the public. The Linfield College faculty lecture series offers one presentation each month by a member of the Linfield faculty. For more information, call 503-883-2409.
