COM 1062.013 2006-2008 - Laserfiche WebLink

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March 25, 2008 Dear County Councilperson, Please accept my written testimony in the form of questions h' 4 A& lie 04bposed incinerator for Hilo, Hawaii: (-C" , ~R rCiUiV { ~ < Will Wheelabrator apply for a Minor Polluter Permit @ up to 100 tons ofV &s a year, or will they apply for a Major Polluter Permit at between 100 and 600 tons of VOCs per year? What is the composition of the VOCs from the proposed Wheelabrator Incinerator, and will they primarily contain dioxins? [A dioxide is an oxide consisting of one atom of a metal and two atoms of oxygen (Webster's Encyclopedic Dictionary, 1941)--this sounds like a breathable metal! Dioxin is any of several carcinogenic or teratogenic hydrocarbons that occur as impurities in petroleum-derived herbicides (American Heritage Dictionary, 2001).] Will the proposed incinerator also pollute with lead, cadmium (a neurotoxin, carcinogen, and mutagen), and mercury (a potential neurotoxin), and arsenic (a carcinogen) as some mainland Wheelabrator and other incinerators do? If the plant also emits carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide, won't these emissions be masked by volcanic emissions so we don't know where the pollutants are coming from? How will emissions from an incinerator combine with HELCO's and the sulfur dioxide from the volcanic emissions and how will this affect our health? In terms of the danger to humans, the food supply, and water contamination, will we be exposed to high levels of dioxins through breathing these emissions in the air and eating from contaminated produce and fish where the particulate will settle? Can you clarify what the incinerator can and cannot burn? Does it take treated lumber or wet household garbage from fruits and vegetables, toxic chemicals as in paint and batteries, oil, and animal carcasses, fluorescent light fixtures and mercury from dental extractions (a small amount of which can pollute an entire lake)? If not, can you tell me what cannot go into the incinerator and what can? If the sort station takes out the plastics, paper, cardboard, glass, and tin, then just what is the incinerator going to burn? Is going to be tires? Will we be importing tires or any other trash to burn? If we sell the power, what is the incentive to remove recyclables? Once Wheelabrator builds an incinerator, do we have any control over whether and what they burn or import to burn? Is it true they just pay the fines and continue to pollute? Is it true that the better the pollution control scrubbers the more toxic the ash? Isn't there lead in it? Doesn't disposal of the toxic ash then become a major problem in terms of wind blowing it or spills in transport--to say nothing of the workers who handle it? What is Wheelabrator's track record on this? If they just create a separate landfill for it, where will that go and what happens if the barrels rust and open? Has Wheelaborator had any accidents necessitating clean-up, fines, or irreversible contaminations? What fuel powers the incinerator and does the plant have to be kept on and be fed 24 hours a day? Can/will the presently proposed plant be expanded? Can/will it be coupled with a bio-fuels production plant? Is there a future plan for this co-habitation? Does Wheelaborator have a track record of combining these kinds of plants? Comm. No. to `L Ref. To: trans G Ref. Date MAR 2s 2011