EMISSIONS
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roposed five years ago and still going through stringent state and federal permitting processes, Russell Biomass LLC’s plant in Russell, Mass., would provide 50 megawatts (MW) of power to the local grid from clean, locally sourced wood waste such as forest management residue and stumps. But local opposition groups already have appealed several of the company’s permits and continue to do so, inevitably delaying the construction and operation timeline. The Russell Biomass Power Plant will be the tightest permitted biomass plant in New England history, said Russell Biomass developer Peter Bos. The plant requires about 36 permits, but construction cannot commence during an active appeal process, which can take up to four years, Bos says. The company currently is on track to get all of its permits in place by March 2010, polish the design over the summer and begin construction by September 2010 with the goal of operating in the spring of 2013. But not if local grassroots opposition group Concerned Citizens of Russell can do something about it, which Bos fully expects. The group opposes the plant for several reasons outlined on its Web site, www. concernedcitizensofrussell.org, including trucking routes and frequency of travel, river impacts, forest sustainability and, of course, plant emissions. The area already has high levels of air pollution because of its location and geography, according to CCR spokeswoman Jana Chicoine. “This site is ringed by mountains,” she says. “You’ve got a 300-foot smokestack next to a 1,100-foot mountain.”
Emission Impacts Typical major emissions from biomass power plants include carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrous oxide and lead, along with particulate matter, among others. All these emissions, in high concentrations, have adverse effects on the environment, but also pose health risks. Carbon monoxide can cause issues such as asthma, headaches, unconsciousness and death; particulates can cause respiratory illnesses; sulfur dioxide can induce breathing 24 BIOMASS MAGAZINE 1|2010
difficulty or worsen asthmatic problems in children; and nitrous oxide can affect the central nervous system, along with cardiovascular and reproductive systems, among other side effects. But the U.S. EPA regulates those harmful emissions and issues penalties, commonly in the form of fines, to facilities not in compliance with National Ambient Air Quality Standards, as per the Clean Air Act, passed in 1970. The law’s administrators can require owners or operators of an emissions source, or control or process equipment, to continuously keep emissions records and use monitoring equipment. Administrators will have access to those records and the premises, according to the EPA. The administrator also can require an operator to enhance monitoring and control techniques, or submit compliance certifications, which include compliance status, method of determining that status, and whether it is continuous or intermittent, among other criteria. The EPA may also inspect facilities regularly to determine compliance in accidental release prevention or mitigation programs. Section 112 of the CAA was amended in 1990 to require the EPA to issue emission standards and requirements for 189 cancer-causing air pollutants. The amendment resulted in more than 100 new rules for industrial and commercial sources of air pollution, according to the EPA. The EPA mostly conducted outreach and compliance assistance in the first few years the new rules were in place, but now has a standard enforcement process of identifying priority violators and taking enforcement actions, including issuing penalties. Since 1997, the EPA has issued enforcement actions for Section 112 violations in more than 600 cases, some involving penalties and environmental projects of more than $1 million each, according to the agency. Penalties for a violation of stationary emissions source requirements of the CAA can be up to $32,500 per violation (per day or per engine), according to the EPA. The federal EPA administrators, along with any state government, also have the power to prevent construction of a major emitting facility that does not conform to the requirements.