SALINA, Kan., June 27, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Exide Technologies (Nasdaq:XIDE) (www.exide.com) announces its plans to make the necessary changes at its Salina, Kan., manufacturing facility for the area around the facility to meet the new National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for lead-in air before the statutory deadline of Dec. 31, 2016. The EPA, following a recommendation from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), announced on June 15 it is proposing to designate an area around the Exide facility in Salina as non-attainment for lead-in-air emissions. Exide's Salina facility manufactures lead-acid batteries for automotive applications.
As part of a periodic review of standards, the EPA announced changes to the NAAQS standard for lead-in-air in October 2008, lowering the standard ten-fold from 1.5 micrograms of lead per cubic meter of air to 0.15 micrograms of lead per cubic meter of air. Exide is currently compliant with all the State's requirements to bring the area around the facility into attainment.
To bring the area into attainment, the Company is focusing on improving capture of emissions of particulate (which may contain lead) from the existing baghouses at the facility. A baghouse is a group of filter bags that collect particulates from the air that passes through them from stacks at the facility. Its operation is similar to the filtration on a household vacuum cleaner. Unlike a vacuum cleaner in which the filter bag is replaced periodically, the bags in the baghouse are "pulsed" with air periodically to remove the dust that the bag has collected, and the dust is then returned to the smelters.
To date, the Company has replaced two baghouses at the facility with new units with filter bags of higher efficiency. The Company plans to replace a third baghouse by the end of July and the fourth baghouse by the end of 2011.
"I am confident that the steps we are taking will bring the area into attainment with the new, more-stringent NAAQS standards expeditiously," said Nevin Caldwell, VP Operations, Exide Americas. "This confidence is bolstered by the fact that the KDHE is already seeing readings at its monitors near our facility at or below the new 0.15 micrograms of lead per cubic meter of air standard for an extended period of time."
Members of Exide's team will be available to answer the public's questions at the KDHE's public meetings, scheduled for June 28 at 2 pm and 6 pm.
About Exide Technologies
Exide Technologies, with operations in more than 80 countries, is one of the world's largest producers and recyclers of lead-acid batteries. The Company's four global business groups – Transportation Americas, Transportation Europe and Rest of World, Industrial Energy Americas and Industrial Energy Europe and Rest of World – provide a comprehensive range of stored electrical energy products and services for industrial and transportation applications.
Transportation markets include original-equipment and aftermarket automotive, heavy-duty truck, agricultural and marine applications, and new technologies for hybrid vehicles and automotive applications. Industrial markets include network power applications such as telecommunications systems, electric utilities, railroads, photovoltaic (solar-power related) and uninterruptible power supply (UPS), and motive-power applications including lift trucks, mining and other commercial vehicles.
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