The St. Louis Post-Dispatch,  September 6, 2001. 200 assail car emissions testing By Lee Khorll Special To The Post-Dispatch, published in South Post Approximately 200 south St. Louis County residents attended a recent meeting at the Tesson Ferry Branch of the St. Louis County Library to express their anger with the state automobile-emissions testing program. One man went so far as to suggest the repeal of the state statute that sets up the Department of Natural Resources, which is responsible for the testing. The meeting last week was sponsored by state Sen. Anita Yeckel, R-Sunset Hills, and state Rep. Carl Hendrickson, R-south St. Louis County. Yeckel told the audience, "The Environmental Protection Agency demanded that the St. Louis area attain a certain quality of air. I fought it on the Senate floor because it is a burden and we didn't want it." "We need to become educated about our rights. I am concerned about the reports of cars damaged during emissions testing and about the MRD additive we are forced to place in our gasoline that is said to harm our storm water. But I don't know what I can do about it now but be angry," Yeckel said. "No one around here likes it, but until we have a majority of legislators who feel as we do and not like the rural legislators who don't care about our problems, nothing will get done." Hendrickson said, "Many people are afraid that something bad is going to happen to their cars during the testing. I don't want a program that people fear." Chuck Dachroeden, an official with the state's Gateway Clean Air Program, told the audience that the reason for the program was that the St. Louis area exceeded the acceptable ozone level. He said ozone damaged human lungs and green plants. He said that the vapor-recovery system on area gasoline pumps was working: For every million gallons of gasoline dispensed, a thousand gallons of gasoline was recovered. Dachroeden said some people thought that the rollers of the dynamometer test damaged cars. But he said the spinning rollers put no pressure on the cars. He said there was a plan to build a four-line testing station in South County to relieve the pressure on the other locations. At that statement, State Rep. Catherine Enz, R-south St. Louis County, rose and shouted, "Don't build a station; stop the program." This was greeted with cheers from the audience, and the statements of discontent began. "I went to the Better Business Bureau about one station," a woman said, "and I won't stop fighting until we get rid of this thing." "Factories are worse polluters than cars," a man said. "Why not do something about them? It's all about money." A woman noted that several states had withdrawn the rights of the vendor, Environmental System Products, and said Missouri should do the same. "Why do they put a chemical in the gasoline sold in St. Louis?" a man wanted to know. "It damages the environment." "I wonder if people who have had their vehicles damaged by the testing have been reimbursed," a man said. "Why not hire qualified people to run the program?" A man brought a chuckle from the crowd when he said, "Why not let it go to a vote? In war we fought an enemy thousands of miles away. Now the enemy isn't thousands of miles away. He's here." "You can't show me one study that says this program is working," a man charged. A woman put the Web address of the Stop the IM-240 Program on the blackboard. It is  www.petitiononline.com/cab4264/petition.html. Dachroeden put the telephone number of the National Department of Natural Resources on the board: 314-301-7600. One person suggested taking a video camera to the station "to protect your rights." Enz ended the discussion in a voice that could be heard over the murmur of some members of the audience. She shouted: "We need accountability. There is no accountability. This is a scam. "We have no way to cancel the program. A scientific program has proved that the IM-240 test is not effective. The vendor has been cited for corruption in connection with the program, and you officials ignore it. The state of Virginia stood up to the bully EPA and never took the program. I don't believe this program is the way to go. "This has been a PR program here tonight. You folks (DNR) seem to be in denial." In the rear of the room the opponents of the testing had displayed an article from Ward's Engine and Vehicle Technology Magazine that said, "By expending too many resources to inspect cleaner low-emitting vehicles, coupled with a lack of effective ways to deal with the dirtiest ones, states are missing opportunities to reduce air pollution." Published in the South Post section of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Thursday, September 6, 2001. Copyright (C)2001, St. Louis Post-Dispatch