Date: October 4, 2010
Source: US EPA
Using its authority under the Clean Air Act, the US EPA has proposed a rule to cut emissions of mercury, particle pollution, and other pollutants from sewage sludge incinerators (SSIs), what it calls the 6th largest source of mercury air emissions in the US. Sewage sludge incinerators are typically located at wastewater treatment facilities. The proposed standards would apply to both multiple hearth and fluidized bed incinerators. EPA estimates that the proposal would cut mercury emissions from these units by more than 75 percent and yield health benefits ranging from $130 million to $320 million by 2015,. The measure is similar to rules the agency has proposed to restrict emissions from industrial boilers which has been highly criticized by industry as a job killer. The Council of Industrial Boiler Owners (CIBO), in a Sept. 14 statement, warned that the boiler MACT could put as many as 338,000 jobs at risk. In a Sept. 24 letter, 41 senators accused the EPA of proposing regulations on the boilers that would lead "to the loss of potentially thousands of high-paying jobs." Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said she was concerned that the rule would harm her state's pulp and paper industry.
EPA PRESS RELEASE
EPA Proposes to Cut Mercury Emissions from Sewage Sludge Incinerators
Release date: 10/01/2010
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to cut emissions of mercury, particle pollution and other harmful pollutants from sewage sludge incinerators, the sixth-largest source of mercury air emissions in the United States. Mercury can damage children's developing brains, and particle pollution is linked to a variety of serious health effects, including aggravated asthma, heart attacks and premature death in people with heart and lung disease.
Sewage sludge incinerators are typically located at wastewater treatment facilities. The proposed standards would apply to both multiple hearth and fluidized bed incinerators. Units incinerating sewage sludge at other types of facilities such as commercial, industrial and institutional incinerators will be covered under different air pollution standards. Overall, the proposal would cut mercury emissions from these units by more than 75 percent.
Mercury in the air eventually deposits into water, where it changes into methylmercury, a highly toxic form that builds up in fish. People are primarily exposed to mercury by eating contaminated fish. Because the developing fetus is the most sensitive to the toxic effects of methylmercury, women of childbearing age and children are regarded as the populations of greatest concern.
EPA estimates that the proposal would yield health benefits ranging from $130 million to $320 million in 2015, with annualized costs estimated at approximately $105 million for all currently operating units to comply with the proposal standards.
EPA will take comment on the proposed rule for 30 days after it is published in the Federal Register. The rule will be finalized in 2011 and become effective in 2015.
More information: www.epa.gov/ttn/oarpg/new.html.
Contact Information: CONTACTS: Cathy Milbourn milbourn.cathy@epa.gov 202-564-7849 202-564-4355 Enesta Jones jones.enesta@epa.gov 202-564-7873 202-564-4355.
EARTHJUSTICE PRESS RELEASE
U.S. EPA Proposes New Rule to Control Sewage Sludge Pollution
Long-awaited action to reduce a toxic threat doesn't go far enough
October 4, 2010
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Friday issued a proposal to reduce emissions of toxic air pollutants like mercury, lead, acid gases, and cancer-causing dioxins and furans from facilities that burn sewage sludge. Sewage sludge incinerators (SSIs), which are typically used to burn semi-solid wastes collected during wastewater treatment, are the sixth largest source of mercury pollution in the U.S.
"Sewage sludge is even dirtier than the name sounds," said Earthjustice attorney James Pew. "It's full of dangerous substances like heavy metals and toxic industrial chemicals that accumulate in wastewater. When sewage sludge is burned in an incinerator, mercury, lead, dioxins and other highly toxic chemicals are released into neighboring communities, where they foul the local environment and threaten residents' health."
The EPA's proposed rule responds to a court order won by Earthjustice on behalf of Sierra Club and other environmental groups in 2007, in which a federal court rejected the Bush administration's attempt to avoid regulating incinerators' toxic emissions. The court's decision confirmed that the Clean Air Act requires protective emission standards for all facilities that burn any solid waste.
In its proposal, the EPA now states its intention to regulate SSIs under protective Clean Air Act rules that govern waste burning. The standards themselves, however, are far less protective than the Clean Air Act requires. Among other things, the EPA set especially weak standards for the dirtiest and most obsolete facilities.
"Communities living near one of the 218 sewage sludge incinerators operating in the U.S. have been suffering from toxic air for far too long," said Jane Williams, Chair of the Sierra Club's Air Toxics Task Force. "We're happy that the EPA is finally addressing this toxic problem, but the agency needs to give Americans the protection that Congress guaranteed, not watered down standards that will allow the worst polluters to keep making people sick."
Contact:
James Pew, Earthjustice, (202) 667-4500, ext. 214
Jane Williams, Sierra Club Air Toxics Task Force, (661) 510-3412
Sign up to receive our free Weekly News Bulletin