Trash-to-Energy Plant Under Fire for Air Violations

A pioneering refuse-to-energy plant in Commerce has repeatedly violated air pollution limits, prompting air quality officials to deny the facility full operating permits, officials said Tuesday.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District could ultimately shut down the plant until the emissions are lowered, but plant officials are seeking a variance to permit continued operation. Project manager Michael Selna said he will ask the AQMD to approve less stringent emissions limits. A hearing on the plant’s violations is scheduled Feb. 7.

“What we hope to do is present information that will lead to new limits that are protective of the environment and public health and achievable to the plant,” Selna said. “I’m optimistic and hopeful they will understand our point of view.”

420 Tons of Garbage a Day

The $50-million plant is capable of burning 420 tons of “typical municipal” garbage a day. Heat from the incinerator, in turn, turns water to steam to drive an electrical generator that is capable of powering about 20,000 homes, officials said.

The plant was developed jointly by the City of Commerce and the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts. The first in the county, the refuse-to-energy plant has been touted as a technology that could provide a solution to garbage disposal problems as more landfills close.

The plant, which does not accept toxic waste, has been operating on a temporary permit since December, 1986. The 11.5-megawatt facility has been selling electricity to Southern California Edison Co. since 1987, Selna said.

Plant Cited Twice

The AQMD notified plant officials this week that the operating permits had been denied for violating air pollution standards and related requirements, AQMD spokesman William J. Kelly said.

Plant officials were cited Jan. 13 and again Monday for exceeding AQMD emissions standards for a total of 40 days from Oct. 27, 1988, to Dec. 30, 1989, according to AQMD records. Those violations could be punished as misdemeanors, or civil penalties up to $25,000 a day could be levied, Kelly said.

Plant emissions of nitrogen oxides exceeded limits of 41 pounds an hour by as much as 14 pounds, said Robert R. Pease, senior air quality engineering manager. Emissions of sulfur dioxide ran as high as 27.8 pounds an hour, more than triple the limit of 9 pounds per hour, Pease said. The plant’s daily emissions limit of sulfur dioxide was exceeded once. Preliminary tests indicate that the plant has also exceeded its carbon monoxide limits.

In addition, the plant has not put into operation some air pollution control monitors required by the AQMD. It has also not presented a report that outlines the danger that minute emissions of heavy metals and other toxics pose to the surrounding community. This health risk assessment was required Dec. 9, Pease said.

Minute Amounts of Dioxins

Minute amounts of dioxins and furans, which are known to cause cancer in laboratory animals, have been detected in emissions sampled from the plant’s stack, Selna said. “We need to know what the associated risk of operating that facility is,” Pease said.

The plant manager contended that the amounts present are expected to produce less of a health risk than eating a charbroiled steak, but exact risk estimates will not be available until the study is completed in one to two months.

Selna said the plant is trying to work out technical problems that have delayed the operation of the monitoring equipment. And the health risk assessment has not been completed because of laboratory delays, he said.

The pollutants addressed in the health risk assessment primarily affect people living and working near the plant. The less toxic pollutants are regulated more for their effect on the overall air quality of the district, Kelly said.

‘Cleanest Plant in the World’

Selna said he does not know if the technology exists to enable the plant to meet the AQMD’s hourly emissions standards. “This is already the cleanest plant in the world,” he said.

Pease said he did not know if that claim is true, but he noted that the district has some of the worst air quality and toughest pollution control standards in the world. Pease said there are some technological advances that could be used at the Commerce plant to reduce emissions.

“The question is whether it is complying with its permit conditions,” Pease said. “We have 56,000 permits out there, and every source contributes to the problem.”