A publication of Work On Waste USA, Inc., 82 Judson, Canton, NY 13617 315-379-9200 Dec. 1993 to Jan. 1994
The 15th of our 24-part series continues the review of waste-to-energy MSW incinerators, including references to Waste Not issues. Vendor/Operator from GAA’s 1993 edition. Type: M=Mass Burn; R=RDF. Tons-Per-Day is incinerator design capacity. APC = Air Pollution Controls: 1-ESP. 2-Baghouse. 3-Dry Scrubber. 4-NOx Control. 5-Wet Scrubber.
INCINERATOR V = VENDOR Year Tons-Per-Day
LOCATION O = OPERATOR Type APC On-Line 1988 1991 1993
Babylon, L.I.72 V/O: OGDEN MARTIN M 2,3 1989 - 750 750
Cuba73 V: Synergy/Clear Air M None 1983 112 112 -
Cattaraugus Co. O: Kinetics Technology
Glen Cove,L.I.74 V: N.A. O: Island Recycling M 1,3 1983 250 - -
Hempstead ,L.I.75 V/O:American Ref-Fuel M 2,3 1989 - 2505 2505
72. Babylon, Long Island, New York. NY State gave $14 million out of the 1972 State Environmental Quality Bond Act to subsidize this incinerator. Accepts autoclaved medical wastes. According to a March 1992 report from the NY DEC, Babylon is listed as having the highest lead and cadmium levels in its ash out of 6 NY incinerators the DEC reviewed: samples taken in the Fall of 1990 revealed: Lead was estimated just below 4,000 parts per million; cadmium results were slightly higher than 80 parts per million.--[Ref: p 55, Ash Residue Characterization Project, March 1992, NY DEC, Div. of Solid Waste, Albany, NY.] “In Babylon, officials managed to increase the supply of garbage. [On October 9, 1992], Acting Supervisor Thomas Melito signed an agreement with the Town of North Hempstead to accept a minimum annual shipment of 60,000 tons of waste for the next 20 years. About 40 percent of it will be recycled, and the remaining garbage will be burned at the town’s incinerator. The agreement locks Babylon into accepting about $84 a ton with an annual increase of 4 percent, a rate that in the coming years may be extremely low...[Melito] said that {Babylon] was obliged to provide the incinerator with 225,000 tons of trash annually but has fallen short by 10,000 to 15,000 tons in most years. The town can be held liable for this amount, which could cost it several hundred thousand dollars.” Costs of L.I. Incinerators Rise With Trash Shortage, New York Times, October 10, 1992, p 26. According to a Kidder Peabody report of May 5, 1988: Solomon Bros & Shearson Lehman sold approx. $89 million in bonds; Ogden put up $17 million; New York State put up $14 million. For more information contact Steve Romalewski, New York Public Interest Group, 9 Murray Street, NY, NY 10007. Tel: 212-349-6460. (Steve has worked for NYPIRG for years & has a great understanding of the history, politics and players involved in L.I. issues.)
73. Cuba, New York: NY State gave $2.55 million out of the 1972 State Environmental Quality Bond Act to subsidize this incinerator. Though the Cuba incinerator is in Allegany County, it is owned by Cattaraugus County. For the last few years the incinerator has been operated by Kinetics Technologies International Co., which is listed as a subsidiary of Mannesman Anlagenbau of Germany. The incinerator was designed by Barton & Loguidce. The Cattaragus County Legislature voted 18-4 to permanently shutdown the incinerator on April 30, 1992. The shutdown is a direct result of intense citizen lobbying efforts. The incinerator operated for nine years with NO air pollution controls. It was surrounded by 150 dairy farms and supplied steam to the Empire Cheese Company: a scenario almost designed to maximize capture of dioxins for human consumption. Both the NY regulatory agencies involved, the Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Environmental Conservation, were willing to allow this incinerator to operate until 1995 when federal regulations would necessitate either a retrofit or shut-down.
See also the NY State Department of Health report, Assessment of the Potential Environmental Impact of Incinerator Emissions: Report of the Pilot Study, published in August 1991. This report is interesting in many respects, no less for the fact it underscores the NY DOH’s shoddy protocols and methods in performing an incinerator ‘study.’ The report was designed to determine to what extent the air contaminant emissions from a municipal waste incinerator in an agricultural setting enters the human food chain via cow’s milk. The DOH proceeded to take the majority of their samples upwind of the incinerator. As for their determination on dioxin uptake, the report states: “The laboratory (Wadsworth Center for Laboratories and Research of the NY DOH) encountered significant technical difficulties in the analysis of samples for PCDDs (dioxins) and PCDFs (furans)...The PCDDs and PCDFs analyses for all media studied resulted in no reliable information.” For a review of the report see Waste Not # 202. For more information contact Richard Klein, 79 South Street, Cuba, NY 14727. Tel: 716-968-1577, or, Chet Swier, Concerned Citizens of Allegany County, 4778 Prospect Street, Cuba, NY 14727, Tel: 716-968-1342
74. Glen Cove, Long Island, New York: The city-owned incinerator, designed by W.F. Consulich, has been closed since July 1991. It came on line as a sludge burning facility and was 92.5% funded by the federal and state governments. (The money was granted under the Clean Water Act Innovative Technologies Program, for an incinerator that was designed to burn 25 tpd of sewer sludge and 75% MSW.) While operational citizens complained of odors, black smoke and ash on their cars, patios and lawns. The incinerator is located on the waterfront (Glen Cove Creek, which empties into Hempstead Harbor.) According to a report in the L.I. newspaper, Newsday of Nov 22, 1989: “A complaint by the NY DEC charges the city and Montenay, which runs the plant, with 44 instances when the plant operated below the minimum state-required temperature of 1,400 degrees Fahrenheit, or when smoke, odor, or ash emissions from the 6-year old plant interfered ‘with the enjoyment of property of residents in the area.’” Newsday reported on April 4, 1990: “The U.S. Labor Department’s Occupational Health and Safety Administration [OSHA] has brought 97 charges -all but four them defined as serious- that Montenay violated agency standards designed to protect the health and safety of workers...[Upon inspection of the plant OSHA officials found] lead levels that varied from almost 2.5 times to almost 4.3 times permissible OSHA levels. Airborne copper levels were twice permissible levels...However, [OSHA investigator] Adams acknowledged that the air samples represented a ‘worst case scenario’ because they were taken on a day when the furnaces were being cleaned...” OSHA targets Glen Cove plant. A new company, Island Recycling and Env