Norske has promised not to addalternate fuels, tires and railway
tires,to its wood waste fuel unless the publicis satisfied with the
safety of its plans.
The planned in-depth openconsultations between the mill and thepublic,
especially if the mill’s economicbenefits are considered, is a
goodexample of sustainable developmentpractice. All-in-all a process
worthcelebrating on Earth Day 2004.
Dioxins and furans are one group ofpersistent organic pollutants
(POPs)that has come to the fore with the pulpmill’s announcements of
its plans.Production of dioxin emissions isassociated with pulp mill
operation.Although pulp mill performance hasgreatly improved since a
1992 Act aimedat reducing emissions was introduced,the public is
understandably concernedthat any changes made at the mill donot
increase pollutants.
However, Norske says the proposedfuels can increase burn temperaturesand thus greatly reduce the emission ofdioxins.
Why Is This Important?Earth Day literature has been warningabout
dioxins for many years, but thepollutants have not gone away and
arestill being released.
Dioxins are immunotoxic, carcinogenic, and are endocrinedisrupters.
They also persist in the environment, concentrating upthe food chain
and in the fatty tissues of mammals and fish. Whilestill a matter of
some dispute, a safe threshold for dioxins has notbeen satisfactorily
demonstrated—less may always be safer.
Dioxins are unwanted by-products of a wide range ofmanufacturing
processes including smelting, bleaching of paperpulp, and the
manufacturing of some herbicides and pesticides.In terms of dioxin
release into the environment, solid wasteincinerators are the worst
culprits due to incompletecombustion. Dioxins are now found throughout
the world inpractically all media, including air, soil, water,
sediment, andfood, especially dairy products, meat, fish and
shellfish—even inhuman breast milk.
Dioxins have been known to be carcinogenic since at least1980. When
environmental groups like Greenpeace sounded thealarm on dioxins, firms
like Dow Chemical and pulp and papercorporations down played the health
risks. In 1983 the EPAfound dioxins to be the most potent synthetic
carcinogen evertested. Greenpeace in 1987 reported (No Margin of
Safety)there was no safe level for dioxins and urged a switch to
zerodioxin,chlorine-free pulp technology.
The foetus is most sensitive to dioxin exposure. Newbornsmay also be
more vulnerable to certain effects. A report last yearby the National
Academy of Sciences found dioxins can affect theintellectual
development of children and that traces of dioxins inmeats and dairy
products may contribute to the risk of cancer inchildren.
There is also an ongoing Health Canada BC Cancer Agencystudy that has
found increased rates of several cancers amongpulp mill workers.
The health effects of air pollution have been found to bemuch more
complicated in the past few decades but thetechnology of pollution
control has progressed a long way too.
Norske ProposalAll of which brings us back to the Norske proposal to addalternate fuels to its pulp mill fuel.
The World Health Organization agrees that incineration withtemperatures
of over 850°C is the best available answer for thedestruction of
dioxins. The destruction of large amounts ofcontaminated material
requires even higher temperatures—1000°C or more. Norske’s proposal,
the company say, will notonly increase burn temperatures but also make
economic senseand recycle waste.
The new global Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) Treatyrequires an
effective destruction efficiency of 100%–taking intoaccount all inputs
and releases and complete containment of allprocess streams to enable
testing and reprocessing if necessary.
For best results the following factors are required to destroydioxins
by incineration:• High combustion temperature to maximize destruction.•
Adequate combustion time (usually two seconds) tomaximize waste
destruction.• High combustion turbulence to distribute heat evenly
andensure complete waste destruction.• Prevention of conditions that
favor formation of dioxinsand furans immediately following combustion.•
A ‘fast-quench’ of post-combustion gases by cooling themquickly from
higher temperatures through the temperaturerange of approximately 400°C
down to 250°C, to avoidprolonged exposure in the temperature range
known to favordioxin and furan formation.• Minimizing the presence of
certain metals, such as copper,that are known to catalyze dioxin and
furan formation.
Reduce, Recycle, ReuseLet’s not forget it is the ravenous consumption
of paper whichaccompanies economic development that drives the
pollutingpulping of wood. Instead of the decline in paper use expected
withcomputerization, global paper consumption has tripled over thepast
three decades, and is expected to grow by half again before2010. There
is no good reason for bleaching all paper produced.The advertising
industry is the main driver for bleached and ‘highreflectance’ paper.
Reducing our consumption of paper andrecycling it is something we can
all do.
The Crofton ProcessThe six month implementation delay by the Crofton
mill offersthe prospect of taking a much closer look at a variety of
old andnewly discovered aspects of air pollution implicated in
theproject and the best available technology for cutting back the
airemissions of dioxins. What is needed is openness to examiningthe
science and technology.
Good has come out of the Crofton controversy already—it doeslook like
technology is available for the pulp mills to further reducetheir
emissions of dioxins, sulphur, and fine particulates. Thatwould make
our region a more healthy—and an even moreattractive—place to live.
Demonstrating an overall pollution prevention plan withmanagement of
all potential hazards would also help in convincingthe public of the
safety of the project. This may be a sustainabledevelopment opportunity
not to missed. ✐
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