On 1/22/04 10:34 AM, "WizardMarks" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > WM: It was my understanding, from information current in 94/95, that the > real problem with the garbage burner is/was insufficient or inefficient > scrubbers on the stack. Thus the "stack bloom" pushes out particles of > lead, cadmium, and other heavy metals. The stack bloom was recorded as > being immediately around the burner and directly to the north of it, > primarily. Near North neighborhoods got muchos stack bloom. What I don't > know is whether that has been corrected.
My memory is being taxed, but I think Wizard is mostly correct in her description of HERC's early problems. I do know that there have been improvements made with HERC's emissions control equipment over the years, and the current setup includes a flue gas scrubber, activated carbon adsorption for mercury control and bag house filtration. HERC was the first incinerator in the nation to use activated carbon to control mercury emissions. But a bigger factor in reducing emissions of heavy metals was the effort Minneapolis and Hennepin County put into getting electronics out of our trash by providing waste electronics collection in Minneapolis and collection at the household hazardous waste facilities in Bloomington and Brooklyn Park and by organizing neighborhood collection events. One of the best illustrations of how much impact this effort had can be seen with lead emissions. In 1995, HERC emitted a little over 8 tons (16,000 pounds) of lead. In 1996, HERC's lead emissions were down to 0.03 tons. In 2002, that number was down to 0.01 tons (or 20 pounds - roughly what's in a standard auto battery). Some more recent information on HERC, including a link to emissions of toxic chemicals for which testing is required in 2000, is available here: http://www.co.hennepin.mn.us/environmental/programs/solidw.html#Recourse%20R ecovery Or if the link above breaks, here: http://makeashorterlink.com/?R13F26827 By the way, I'm friends with HERC's manager, so I asked him about odor control efforts and here's what he told me: "The waste is stored indoors in a pit. We have intake fans that keep the tipping floor at a negative pressure to minimize the escape of odors. This intake air is used to feed the combustion chambers. If the waste is wet or contains a lot of restaurant debris, it can begin to smell. We attempt to manage these odors by waste inventory control and physical controls - closing the doors to increase the negative pressure. We are also looking into odor control systems, and relocation of the entrances and exits to the tipping floor. There are no odors coming from the stacks." He also mentioned that he's been pretty busy lately fielding questions about HERC in relation to the ball park proposal. :-) Mark Snyder Windom Park REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
