The Department of Environmental Protection Friday announced it has issued an Air Quality Plan Approval for the En-Tire Logistics of Milton PA LLC co-generation facility in White Deer Township, Union County.

The En-Tire plant will be authorized to combust a mixture of fuels—which includes natural gas and chipped waste tires—that will produce 7-megawatts of electricity and provide steam to the adjacent National Gypsum facility.

“The department has done a very careful and detailed review of this application during the past 18 months to be sure that all applicable federal and state air quality regulations will be met,” DEP Northcentral Regional Director Marcus Kohl said.

“In some areas, our plan approval application review exceeded state and federal requirements. We responded to more than 200 written comments we received from the public.”

DEP provided substantial opportunities for public input throughout its review process. On May 2, it conducted a combined public meeting and hearing in Allenwood that was attended by about 80 citizens, with 25 presenting testimony.

In addition, the department extended its public comment period for the draft Air Quality Plan Approval from the standard 30 days to 75 days at the request of local and state elected officials.

The department plans to hold an informational meeting with interested residents in October to discuss the approval process, what the roles of DEP and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency were in the review, and what the issuance of the plan approval means. The details of this meeting will be announced in the near future.

DEP has determined that the proposed emission levels of air contaminants satisfy Best Available Control Technology (BACT) as well as the agency’s Best Available Technology (BAT) requirements. The department also has determined that this facility satisfies all applicable requirements of state and federal air quality regulations, including Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) requirements.

Although not required by state or federal regulations, DEP requested and En-Tire agreed to perform an inhalation risk assessment based on the estimated chronic risks posed by the proposed facility operating at maximum load, as well as two acute exposure scenarios from short-term emissions.

The assessment included a selection of 35 Compounds of Potential Concern (COPC) that DEP determined would be generated by the combustion of tire-derived fuel. The results of this assessment determined that the levels of risk posed by both chronic and acute exposure to the modeled COPCs do not exceed DEP’s inhalation risk assessment standards.

The department, in accordance with regulations, also sent the draft plan approval to EPA for its review, and EPA approved, with comments, DEP’s issuance of it.

The En-Tire project includes a combustion unit rated at 185 million BTUs per hour of heat input that incorporates kiln and boiler stages in series. The project also includes the construction of a dry sorbent storage and handling system, a cooling tower, and one aqueous ammonia storage tank. Emissions from the combustion unit will be controlled by a dry scrubber, fabric collector, oxidation catalyst, selective catalytic reduction, and a wet scrubber.

Click Here to view copies of the Plan Approval, Issuance Letter and the Comment and Response Document.

9/30/2013