The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency has issued an air permit-to-install-and-operate today to SOBE Thermal Energy Systems in Youngstown.

According to a news release from the agency, permits include conditions limiting air emissions to protect public health and the environment. In response to comments received, the draft permit was revised to improve the monitoring and recordkeeping at the facility. 

Some of the changes included adding additional emissions testing requirements for particulate matter, sulfur dioxide and dioxins to ensure the flame in the thermal plant is maintained at all times and ensure any gases that will be vented are properly combusted.

SOBE plans to build a pyrolysis plant that would use scraps of tire chips without air to extract a gas, known as synthesis gas, or syngas, and burn the gas in boilers to produce hot water. This would create heat for SOBE's 30-plus clients. 

The EPA says according to an air monitor it has at Youngstown State University and and computer modeling projections, air quality standards would be met after the plant would go into operation.

In December, Youngstown City Council imposed a one-year moratorium on pyrolysis and gasification facilities in the city. Council members and environmentalists say that even if those final EPA permits are issued, this moratorium still restricts SOBE from moving forward.

In a statement given to 21 News, President of Council Tom Hetrick says he is deeply disappointed in the Ohio EPA and their decision to grant a permit to SOBE for the pyrolysis of waste tires in a densely populated area of Youngstown with many environmental justice concerns. 

"It’s clear to me that the Ohio EPA spent months copying, categorizing and calculating the hundreds of comments from concerned Youngstown residents, but not actually listening to us or responding in any meaningful way," he says in the statement.

He later told 21 News "the Ohio EPA, before issuing this permit, they should've come back to Youngstown and had another public meeting and answered the questions that the residents raised."

Mayor Tito Brown said in a statement "we are disappointed in the decision to grant the permit and I expressed my displeasure with the EPA director today. The permitting process totally disregarded the environmental injustice to our community. We will exercise all of our options and fight the decision to allow this company to operate in our city."

Despite its issuance, the EPA says this permit can be appealed within 30 days of its issuance. Hetrick believes someone or a group will come forward and do that, but it's not known who.

You can read the full permit below: