I understand from Thomas Lexington that Senator North has forwarded our correspondence to you. As you have seen, it concerns our interest in having the Environmental Protection Agency grant us a waiver that will allow our factory to burn low sulfur fuel oil.
We understand from Mr. Lexington that the EPA may not act on our application for several months, even a year or more. If so, our factory, as well as the others in our area, will lose the savings that would accompany use of this much less expensive fuel oil. For our factory alone, the savings would be in the $62,000 range, and I'm sure that the all-around savings in the area might be up to $1 million or even more.
As I explained in my letter to Senator North, I have called Mr. Fred Downey, who is a member of the House Subcommittee on Health and the Environment, to ask his help in urging the EPA to act on this matter as quickly as possible. I have not yet heard from his office. I imagine, however, that he has heard from many other businesspeople in this area on this matter.
We would very much appreciate your help in this matter. Because of the relatively shaky condition of the economy in our area, I know that we have a mutual interest in getting the kind of savings that will allow businesses like ours to survive.
