Sappi Fine Paper is expected to receive final approval this week from the Department of Environmental Protection on a plan to burn construction and demolition debris as an alternative fuel source at its Westbrook mill.
Sappi is currently burning coal and what is called “green wood biomass,” which includes virgin wood chips, wastewater treatment sludge and waste paper. It wants to replace up to 50 percent of the 1,200 to 1,400 tons of green wood biomass it burns daily with construction and demolition debris.
The permit will include strict monitoring of emissions as well as the fuel source, which will be certified by third-party inspectors and tested for harmful amounts of arsenic, lead and PCBs.
In 2005, Sappi applied for a permit that would allow it to substitute a limited amount of used wood in place of conventional wood as a fuel source for an energy generating boiler at the mill. A group quickly formed – Westbrook for Clean Air – to fight the plan, citing concerns of air pollution and odor.
In November 2005, the Massachusetts-based Toxics Action Center – a now 20-year-old environmental group – awarded Sappi its “Dirty Dozen” award because it said the mill had a record of burning dirty coal and because the proposed construction and debris burning would release dioxin and arsenic into the air. The award was given to 12 companies it believed to be poor stewards of the environment.
Sappi and the Department of Environmental Protection both said there would be no odor and emissions would be closely watched. A test burn of the materials indicated there was no cause for concern.
Earlier this month, the department made a recommendation that the application to burn construction and debris be approved. A final public comment period ended on Tuesday. If no changes need to be made, the permit should receive the department commissioner’s signature.
A biomass boiler owned by Boralex, a Canadian electricity producer, was recently burning construction debris in Livermore Falls and selling the energy produced to industry in Connecticut. Martin Puckett, Livermore Falls town manager, said there was never a problem with odor from the burning, and the town never received a complaint. Boralex has since stopped the burning, however, after Connecticut passed laws that did not allow the purchase of energy from plants that used construction and demolition debris.
New Hampshire has also passed a law this year banning the burning of construction and demolition debris for fuel.
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