from The Biomass Monitor by Managing Editors: Rachel Smolker & Meg Sheehan; Editor & Journalist: Josh Schlossberg
July 21, 2011 No Biomass Burn and six other environmental groups are appealing the air permit decision by the Olympic Region Clean Air Agency (ORCAA), charging that the agency colluded with Nippon Paper to grossly understate toxic pollution from a 20-megawatt biomass power proposal under construction in Port Angeles, Washington.
Carcinogenic formaldehyde from Nippon’s project would be emitted at rates nearly ninety times greater than ORCAA’s permit shows, according to analysis conducted by a nationally renowned air quality engineer hired by the appellants.
Benzene, also a carcinogen, would be emitted at levels six times greater than reported levels, while VOC’s (volatile organic compounds) would be emitted in “substantially higher amounts” than the permit shows, according to Duff Badgley.
If allowed to stand, the lower pollution estimates would let Nippon avoid more rigorous government regulations and more expensive and effective pollution controls.
