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Cargill, the Dobbs and others. While the EPA's response had been nonexistent, the county's response was altogether undenvhelming, the activists say. County officials told residents that inspectors needed to see the dust plumes themselves in order to be able to act on them. Because it took county officials about 40 minutes to reach the plant after receiving afugitive-dust complaint, this rarely happened. The residents' frustration mounted. In an effort to resolve the issue, the county asked residents to videotape the dust plumes. Lacking a video camera, they began to take photographs and share those with the county. "There's no way to win," says Lou Dobbs, recalling the aggravation of those years. "We can't videotape it, because we don't have the video camera. They can't give us a video camera. They can't act without proof, and they can't get out here to get proof. The state says they can't be everywhere at once. There's this big loophole, so what do you do?" County and state records show many instances in which fugitive dust-plumes were reported to officials via phone, through letters and sometimes through photographs. In several cases, the county or state asked the plant to update its Fugitive Dust Control Plan (FDCP). In other cases, it's unclear what action, if any, was undertaken by regulatory agencies. In February 1999, faced with persistent complaints about dust, the Boulder County Board of Health passed Resolution 99- 1, establishing a taskforce that would bring community members, government officials and Southdown representatives together to resolve some of the problems. Funded by state and county money, the task force, given the unwieldy name Northern Boulder County Environmental Health Community Task Force, met over a period of two years and produced a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which Cargill signed, together with county officials and Southdown/Cemex Plant Manager John Lohr. In the MOU, SouthdownlCemex agreed to a number of substantial changes. The plant agreed to install and maintain a sprinkler system in its cement kiln dust disposal pit; install and maintain a sprinkler and watering system at its Dowe Flats quarry site; purchase and use a second water truck to keep roadways wet and minimize dust in the air; modify its current truck wash system so that trucks carrying cement would be forced to drive through it; and add a sign stating, "Air Pollution Stops Here." Further, the plant agreed to distribute a community newsletter about improvements and updates at the plant and instructions for filing complaints with the plant; hire an employee to augment plant housekeeping efforts; re-prioritize plant expectations, including a formal plant-sweeping schedule and a complaint procedure for handling neighborhood issues..ln addition, Cemex committed to installing aclosed-circuit television monitoring system to allow plant operators to monitor the facility for dust problems around the clock; limit use of certain equipment to the hours of 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.; shut down any activities that might cause dust emissions when winds reach 30 mph fora 15-minute period; and respond to all complaints with immediate and follow-up action. The county, for its part, agreed to copy the plant's inspection reports and provide them to task force members. Neighborhood residents left the table feeling they had finally accomplished something and reasonably hopeful they had seen the last of the cement dust. The county won a national award for its efforts, while Cemex earned an honorable mention from the cement industry's environmental awards. Everyone was satisfied-for the moment.