The Plant Granite Garbage Incinerator Saga
Elbert County, Georgia
This document is intended to provide accurate information about the proposed Elbert County garbage incinerator project and the impact on the economy, health, and environment.
All of the information is taken from public documents, US EPA and various state EPD websites, and peer reviewed scientific and economic research published in journals. Links to the information sources are included in this document so you may check the validity and authenticity.
Elbert County is the granite capital of the world, has approximately 16,770 households, is mostly rural and agricultural, has no zoning ordinances in the rural parts of the county and has some of the cleanest air in the state of Georgia based on a summary of 10 EPA measures of air pollution concentrations, and 11 measures of pollution emissions.
Source: http://creativemethods.com/airquality/maps/
September 23, 2009 - The Elberton Star reported sometime in the first half of 2009 GreenFirst LLC (CEO Ernest Kaufmann) contacted Elbert County commissioners to site a "biomass facility" (to later become known as Plant Granite) in Elbert County with the promise of jobs and tax revenue - both highly desirable and scarce in Elbert County. County commissioners visited a facility in Huntsville Alabama, and Mr. Kaufmann made a pitch to Rotary.
The “biomass facility” is a garbage incinerator importing and burning up to 1800 tons of garbage per day, 7 days per week. The garbage burned would include municipal solid waste (household trash), wastewater sludge (sewage), construction and demolition debris, wood biomass (trees, limbs), and "other permitted fuelstock" - i.e. tires and possibly medical waste.
The proposed incinerator site is approximately 5 miles southwest of Elberton on Doves Creek Church Drive off Highway 72. Downwind are nine schools, the hospital, churches, shops, stores, and neighborhoods of Elberton. The Broad River is slightly more than 1 mile away from the proposed site. The Broad River is a tributary to Lake Clarks Hill and the Savannah River.
We don't even make that much garbage in our 10 county region!
According to the Northeast Georgia Regional Solid Waste Management Plan (Nov 2004) Elbert County generates only 35 - 40 tons of garbage per day. This Plan states the entire 10 county region generated only 211 tons of waste per day.
Source: http://www.negrc.org/solidwaste.asp
Where would all that garbage come from?
97% of the garbage will be trucked in from a 90+ mile radius around Elbert County (Athens, Augusta, Anderson, Greenville, Metro Atlanta, etc). If there's not enough garbage in a 90 mile radius to keep the garbage incinerator running, garbage will probably come in on the railroad from 500 - 1,000+ miles away.
Source: www.negplanning.org/dri/search Look for Plant Granite
There’s no urgency to act!
The Plan states there are three landfills available to Elbert County with capacity to 2040 (Banks County), 2049 (Walton County), and 2059 (Cherokee County).
Source: http://www.negrc.org/solidwaste.asp
Where’s the feasibility study?
How can the commissioners sign a contract of such magnitude without a feasibility study or needs assessment?
Property values drop 20%:
According to research published in the Journal of Urban Economics in 1995, The Effect of an Incinerator Siting on Housing Appreciation Rates "Over the seven-year period of incinerator operation studied, the average effect observed led to property values more than 20% lower than they otherwise would have been." A 20% drop in property values will reduce property tax revenues by 20%!
U.S. Supreme Court ruled incinerator ash is hazardous waste:
Burning 1800 tons of garbage per day will create 180 – 450 tons of ash per day. "On May 2, 1994 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled...incinerator ash...must be managed, stored, treated, and disposed of as a hazardous waste..."
Source: Environmental Defense Fund v. Chicago 1989
What’s in the ash?
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection tests and reports the concentrations of toxic compounds found in the ash of garbage incinerators.
The Hillsborough (Tampa) Florida facility burns 1200 tons of garbage per day.
Here is the amount of toxins produced daily in the ash:
166.3 lbs lead
28.1 lbs chromium
15.7 lbs arsenic
13.4 lbs cadmium
Source: http://www.dep.state.fl.us/waste/ash/wte.htm
Garbage incinerator smokestacks emit tons of toxic substances:
Even when operating within "strict EPA standards" garbage incinerators emit into the air significant amounts of toxins such as mercury, lead, arsenic, dioxins, hydrochloric acid, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, particulates, nitrogen oxides, chromium, cadmium, and carbon dioxide.
Mercury, fishermen, the Broad River, Clarks Hill, and those downstream...:
“Mercury in the air eventually settles into water or onto land where it can be washed into water… Fish and shellfish are the main sources of methylmercury exposure to humans.”
Source: EPA Mercury website http://www.epa.gov/mercury/about.htm
Incinerators, toxic chemicals and the hazards of country living:
Toxins such as mercury, lead, arsenic, dioxins, and more escape the smoke stacks, travel for miles, and settle on the plants, vegetables, fruit, streams, rivers, and the ground. The toxins are taken in by livestock, wildlife, fish, vegetables, and fruit. Elbert County families would eat/drink the toxins in the chicken, beef, pork, eggs, dairy, game, fish, vegetables and fruit they grow, catch or buy locally to be self sufficient, save money, support local business, and live a healthy life.
According to “Transfer of dioxin risk between nine major municipal waste incinerators” published in the journal Environment International, April 2002, “…food ingestion was the main exposure pathway which accounted for 64-99% of total dioxin risks among nine impact areas.”
This garbage incinerator is planned to be slightly more than one mile from the Broad River which is a tributary to Clarks Hill and the Savannah River. All of the toxic ash from the incinerator will be stored on site. Can Elbert County afford what happened at the Tennessee Valley Authority's Kingston power plant in Roane County, Tennessee? See “Broken promises follow Tennessee coal ash disaster”
Traffic hazards, congestion, increased wear and tear and repair of roads:
37 trucks per hour - can you imagine that?
220 more trucks per day, six days per week, on Highways 72, 17, 77, 98 and local roads will have a significant impact on traffic hazards, road conditions, and road repair costs. The cost to repave state highways in Georgia is $190,000 – $270,000 per mile. 220 trucks entering and leaving the incinerator in one day equals 2640 trucks per week. The incinerator will receive trucks Mon - Fri 6 am to 7 pm and Sat 6 am to 1 pm. That's 72 hours per week. 2640 trucks divided by 72 hours per week is almost 37 trucks per hour either entering or leaving the incinerator off Highway 72.
Diesel exhaust:
All those trucks will emit lots of diesel exhaust and particulate matter which according to the EPA publication Diesel Exhaust in the United States, June 2003: “Nationwide, particulate matter, and especially the fine particles … in diesel exhaust cause 15,000 premature deaths every year. Those most at risk are people with existing heart or lung disease, asthma, or other respiratory problems, as are children and the elderly. In general, children are more sensitive to air pollution…”
Air quality:
In “The Smokestack Effect” USA Today used current EPA air quality data and EPA models to evaluate air quality at over 127,800 schools. The report ranked the following at each school:
Here’s the air quality report for three schools of interest:
Elbert County High School has air quality better than 82% of all schools sampled.
Richard Milburn Academy (near the Tampa incinerator) has air quality worse than 83% of all schools sampled.
Huntsville High School (near the Huntsville incinerator) has air quality worse than 85% of all schools sampled.
In a follow up article USA Today reported:
Government
Accountability Office Report Scolds EPA
During the past decade, the Environmental Protection Agency's commitment to keeping children safe from toxic chemicals has lapsed, and top officials routinely ignored scores of recommendations by the agency's own children's health advisory committee, according to a report released Wednesday by the Government Accountability Office.
The consequences are substantial, health experts told lawmakers Wednesday, during a hearing of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
Children breathe more air in proportion to their weight than do adults, and because their bodies are still developing toxic chemicals affect them more profoundly. Exposures to chemicals today portend a "flood of chronic disease" tomorrow, said Ted Schettler, science director for the advocacy group Science and Environmental Health Network.
Schettler, who has served on EPA and National Academy of Sciences
advisory committees, testified that the problems "are setting the stage
for an overwhelming wave of disease and disability ... in the coming decades."
Of particular concern: the lack of information about thousands of chemicals and
how they interact with each other.
Dioxin blood levels of incinerator workers:
According to the journal article Exposure Evaluation of Dioxins in Municipal Waste Incinerator Workers published in Industrial Health, 2003. "The grounds surrounding some incineration plants are contaminated with high levels of dioxins, causing concern among the residents about the adverse health effects of dioxins. Workers employed at incineration plants are also concerned about adverse effects on their health.
Dioxin concentrations in the exhaust gas of municipal waste incinerators...is about 8,000 times that in general air. Dioxin concentrations in the slag and fly ash...are about 6 and 900 times that in general soil.
How much dioxin does an incinerator worker have in their blood?
The blood dioxin concentration in workers who had worked in the incineration building as well as engaged in maintenance of the incinerator (group IV) was ...about 10 times the general level.
The blood dioxin concentration in workers who had ...handled the solidified ash (group II) and ... who had worked in the incineration building (group III) were [2 - 3 times] higher than the general level.
As the occupational exposure index increases, the serum concentration also increases. This finding suggests that the incinerator workers took dioxins into their bodies while they were working."
Energy saved by recycling exceeds energy produced from burning:
The 2005 research article Comparative Life Cycle Assessments for Curbside Recycling Versus Either Landfilling or Incineration with Energy published in The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment states "Recycling of newspaper, cardboard, mixed paper, glass bottles and jars, aluminum cans, tin-plated steel cans, plastic bottles, and other conventionally recoverable materials found in household and business municipal solid wastes consumes less energy and imposes lower environmental burdens than disposal of solid waste materials via landfilling or incineration, even after accounting for energy that may be recovered from waste materials at either type disposal facility."
Who’s going to operate the garbage incinerator and what kind of record do they have?
Elbert County Commissioners signed the Host Agreement with GreenFirst 2/8/2010. GreenFirst has the exclusive right to assign the 30 – 45 year contract to anyone they want anytime they want without Elbert County government approval!
Covanta Energy is the company often referred to as an investor and likely to run the facility. Do we really want to do business with this company? Do we really want this company as neighbors?
According the Florida Department of Environmental Protection over the past 5 years the facility in Miami Dade has been fined more than $2.4 million for emissions/environmental violations:
• Exceedance of dioxin/furan limit 2008, 2005, 2004.
• Dioxin/furan stack testing for unit #1 was not conducted within 12 months 2004
• Exceedance of CO limit 2008, 2006, 3 times in 2005
• Exceedance of maximum demonstrated baghouse temperature on 11/23/07
• ...units 1, 3 & 4 were inoperative between 5% and 10% of operation time during 1st,
2nd & 3rd quarters of 2007.
• Failure to comply with carbon injection requirements & estimating procedures 2007
• Exceedance of SO2 standard on 12/29/06 due to dilution of slaked lime slurry
• Exceedance of HCL limit 2005
• Failure to report all items of noncompliance 2004
Source: http://www.dep.state.fl.us/air/emission/aces/ACES_facility.asp?txtFacID=3139
Maryland Department of the Environment penalizes Covanta $21,000 for failure to maintain required records and for false reporting. “Covanta is required by its permit to maintain monthly records of the quantity of landfill gas condensate processed for at least five years. Covanta failed to maintain the monthly records from August 1999 through July 2001, and twice falsely certified in March 2000 and March 2001 that the records were being maintained”
Additional Environmental Violations:
• 10/2008 near Philadelphia, PA - excessive emissions of toxic nickel and related compounds
• 09/2008 Pittsfield, MA - exceeding allowable emission rate for dioxins and furans by nearly 350%... failing to report other violations of its operating permit
• 07/2008 Okahumpka, FL - excessive dioxin/furan emissions
• 09/2007 Wallingford, CT - excessive dioxin/furan emissions
• 03/2006 Honolulu, HI - exceeded the emission limits for dioxin/furan and lead
• The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has repeatedly cited Covanta for excessive emissions of sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide.
• 08/2008 New Jersey - illegal carbon monoxide emissions and for exceeding the state’s “opacity” limits
• Since 2005 The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has issued ten “consent assessments”… excessive emissions of sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrogen chloride, and nitrogen oxide
Labor Standards Violations:
06/2009 the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL) cited Covanta for serious violations of safety rules at its incinerator in West Wareham, MA:
• accumulation of fly ash on energized 208-volt electrical equipment
• flexible cords “hot-wired” into electrical equipment as a substitute for fixed wiring
• unguarded lamps exposing workers to burn hazards
• emergency lighting units missing or not functioning
04/2009 USDOL cited the same facility for safety violations:
• electrical equipment “maintained” with cardboard and duct tape
• improper storage of oxygen and acetylene cylinders side-by-side with no barrier between them
• failing to require employees fighting a fire to wear appropriate protective clothing
05/2009 and 06/2009 the U.S. National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)
• illegal work rules at 46 Covanta facilities throughout U.S.
• illegally withholding bonuses and wage increases from employees at the facility because they had voted for union representation
Source: www.cjcw.org/notice/Covanta_Fact_Sheet.pdf
The “right to vote” petition, a flawed contract, and lawsuits:
In only 10 days a small group of concerned citizens gathered the signatures of 3520 Elbert County citizens on the "right to vote" petition. Probate Judge Sexton validated 3026 signatures – that’s 24% of the registered voters in Elbert County.
The petition was presented at the February 8, 2010 Elbert County Board of Commissioner meeting. The commissioners ignored the petition, opposed the citizens of Elbert County, denied their right to vote, and without discussion, unanimously voted to accept and sign a Host Agreement that gave great favor to GreenFirst.
One commissioner was overheard stating "Governing by the will of the people is not how we do things in Elbert County".
The Host Agreement binds the county to a 30 – 45 year contract giving GreenFirst, or whomever they sell the contract to, an exclusive right to operate without competition. There appear to be significant loopholes in the Host Agreement such that the "millions" of dollars the county might receive could be reduced to a few hundred thousand dollars.
Source: Host Agreement between Elbert County and Plant Granite, LLC
It appears as if the county commissioners received their education on how safe and positive a garbage incinerator would be for Elbert County from GreenFirst and a few visits to an incinerator in Huntsville, Alabama, and Tampa, Florida as it is not apparent they commissioned an independent study of the issues, a needs assessment, or a regional impact study.
According to a lawsuit by Sweet City Landfill vs. Elbert County and GreenFirst, the commissioners may have violated state constitution with regards to due process and equal protection rights, and violated hearing and notice and procedural requirements mandated by the Solid Waste ordinance, and DRI Review Process.
Sources:
Sweet City Landfill, LLC vs Elbert County Board of Commissioners & GreenFirst, LLC
Amendment to Sweet City Landfill LLC lawsuit
Second Lawsuit Sweet City Landfill vs Elbert County Commissioners & GreenFirst, LLC
Elbert County Commissioners hired a law firm and filed a letter of objection to the "right to vote" petition. Imagine elected officials spending citizens’ money to oppose the tax payers who voted them into office!
Source: Letter of Objection to Petition for Special Election on behalf of Elbert County
GreenFirst has filed a letter of objection to the petition.
Source: GreenFirst Letter of Objection to Petition for Special Election
Judge Sexton "sought the assistance of the Elections Division of the Secretary of State, the Attorney General’s office, and other Probate Court Judges" and has hired an attorney.
Concerned yet?
To learn more and find out what you can do the help visit cleanelbert.webs.com, sign up for the mailing list, or write to cleanelbert@gmail.com.
Timeline:
April 1, 2009 - The Elberton Star reported “Elbert County Commissioners are considering opening a construction and demolition landfill at the county’s transfer station site…[that]
would last five to seven years.
Opening a C&D landfill locally will save the county and local contractors. One of those contractors, Wayne Mullenix, said he spends $12,000-$15,000 per month to dump C&D waste. “That’s a lot of money that could be kept in the county,” he said.
May 13, 2009 – The Elberton Star reported Jack Stovall told commissioners he would like the county to be a “partner” in a landfill project, but that his company will pay for the entire project.
Stovall said that the county can collect a $1 to $1.50 per ton host fee for having the landfill in the county. That could mean as much as $30 million to the county over the lifetime of the landfill, if the landfill takes in 1,200 tons of trash per day for 25 years.
September 23, 2009 - The Elberton Star reported sometime in the first half of 2009 GreenFirst LLC (CEO Ernest Kaufmann) contacted Elbert County commissioners to site a "biomass facility" (to later become known as Plant Granite) in Elbert County with the promise of jobs and tax revenue - both highly desirable and scarce in Elbert County. County commissioners visited a facility in Huntsville Alabama, and Mr. Kaufmann made a pitch to Rotary.
October 19, 2009 - Commissioner Hewell made a motion that Elbert County consider any proposal for development of an alternative to disposal of solid waste generated in the county through a waste-to-energy facility. The motion carried 5-0. Commissioner Harper made a motion to authorize the County Attorney Bill Daughtry, Commissioner Albertson, Commissioner Eaves and staff to process any request for initiation of a Development of Regional Impact (DRI) to the Northeast Georgia Regional Commission for potential development. The motion carried 5-0.
At the same meeting there was a “First Reading to amend Chapter 62 of the Code of Ordinances” to clarify the intent of Sections 62-51 thru 62-55 and provide a definition of the terms "private disposal site", "landfill", "waste disposal area" and "waste storage area". It will also repeal conflicting ordinances.
November 2009 – Commissioners vote to amend Elbert County Solid Waste Plan to include waste-to-energy facility and exclude solid waste landfill.
January 2010 – Commissioners face a “packed house” with over 100 people standing in the hall wanting to speak their mind about the garbage incinerator.
Citizens for Public Awareness organizes a petition drive to request the “right to vote” on changes to the Elbert County Solid Waste Plan.
February 8, 2010 – Elbert County Commissioners face another “packed house” with over 100 people outside the courtroom and hold two meetings in a row to hear public comment about the garbage incinerator. The “right to vote” petition is presented. They sit stone faced, answer no questions, have no discussion, and vote unanimously to accept and sign the Host Agreement with GreenFirst , to amend the Solid Waste Plan, to “site” the garbage incinerator, and to draft a letter to state it is consistent with the Solid Waste Plan.
More information regarding the garbage incinerator project, and garbage incinerators in general: