DEP investigation of Red Shield ash continues

March 14, 2007

Since some Bradley residents complained of soot residue collecting inside their cars and falling on their property last week, The Maine Department of Environmental Protection has launched an investigation into the content of the ash from the biomass boiler being used by Red Shield, according to DEP spokesman Ed Logue.

Logue said on Monday that the situation “has become much more elevated” since Bradley residents initially complained of soot emissions. Following those complaints, the DEP issued a letter directing Red Shield not to burn any construction and demolition waste (C and D W) until problems with the biomass boiler’s pollution control system could be resolved, specifically a back-up in the ash hopper that was believed to be responsible for the soot emissions. On talking with Red Shield’s attorney the following day, Logue said, the DEP was told that the company had already ceased burning C, D and W and was running entirely on “whole tree chips”, also known as green wood chips.

At the time the letter was issued last week, Logue estimated that the time frame for repairs to the boiler would be about 10 days to two weeks. On Tuesday, he said that the biomass boiler was scheduled to be “shut down completely” at some point during the week so that DEP officials could investigate the cause of high levels of lead in recent tests of the ash from the site. A subsequent conversation with Dick Arnold of Red Shield revealed that the boiler had in fact been shut down on Monday night and would remain inoperative until Thursday, during which time he was confident the necessary repairs to the system would be made.

“The ash (undergoes) two tests,” Logue said. “One test is for total lead, the other is the “lead leachate” test, which determines how much of the lead will become soluble once it’s released into the ground. Anything over five milligrams per liter is considered hazardous waste and can’t be buried.”

Logue said that some containers of ash on the site have tested at toxic levels, but that the DEP has not been able to determine the reason for those test results. The wood coming into Red Shield has not tested at the same toxic levels, he said, and similar facilities burning the same wood have not tested the same. He characterized the current problems at Red Shield as two separate issues, one being the back-up in the boiler that caused the recent soot emission, and the second being the quality of the soot itself.

“It could be that it’s just not getting the proper mix,” he said.

While the soot that fell on Bradley last week will not be included in the testing process, DEP officials have said that they should be able to determine its possible toxicity based on the testing of additional ash taken from the boiler site.

At the state-owned Juniper Ridge Landfill, operated by Casella Waste Systems, Inc. in West Old Town, ash that has already been deposited in the landfill has now been isolated.

“There’s still a lot of data that hasn’t come back yet,” Don Meagher, manager of planning and development for Casella, said Monday. “Until all of the data’s in, you can’t draw conclusions. In terms of the ash that’s being studied, it has been placed and we have stopped activity in that area.”

Meagher said that if the “questionable ash” is determined to be toxic, it would be removed from the landfill through a process yet to be discussed.

“(At that point), there would have to be discussions with Red Shield and the DEP,” he said. “There’s an enormous amount of data that still needs to be looked at. It’s really hard, without seeing a written report in front of me, to have an opinion.”

Meagher added that “part of what is being studied is whether soot (that fell on Bradley last week) and the ash from the biomass boiler are the same thing.”

According to Arnold, there is no question that the ash and the soot that fell on Bradley are two separate things. He said that Red Shield has been operating in compliance with regulations and that it’s unfortunate that people have blown the situation out of proportion.

“The ash isn’t toxic, but it’s hard to get people to understand that after it’s been called that in the paper,” he said.

Red Shield human resources director Dan Bird said that he hoped that people realized that the 55 employees at the mill are residents of the area as well, with families that would also be affected if the boiler were producing toxic ash.

“They live here, they have family and friends waiting to come back to work here,” he said. “It’s not like they’re from North Carolina and don’t care what happens here.”

Bradley town manager Melissa Doane said that she was still concerned about the health of town residents and has requested that the DEP keep her updated on the situation at the mill site. She added that she had hoped that some of the ash that had fallen on Bradley could be tested but had been told that it was now too contaminated for testing to take place.

But at least one Bradley resident is considering offering some ash to DEP for testing. The woman, who asked that her name not be used, said that since last week’s “soot event”, she has discovered a thick layer of the substance covering everything in her attic.

“It’s all over everything,” she said. “It was the same stuff that was all over the dashboard of my car. What worries me about it is that we keep the door to the attic open and the stairs are right next to my little boy’s bedroom.”

The woman said that she had wanted to clean up the soot last weekend, but since reading news reports that it may contain lead, is afraid to “go up there with a vacuum cleaner.” As of Monday, she said that she planned to speak to the Bradley town manager about having the soot tested.

Although Orono was not affected by last week’s soot emissions, town manager Cathy Conlow said that she’s “always been concerned about the safety of town residents, and that (this situation) hasn’t changed that.”

“I appreciate that DEP took the time to call and inform us of the situation,” she said, noting that two different DEP officials had called to apprise her of the situation last week.

Red Shield, a company comprised of a group of private investors, purchased the former Georgia-Pacific mill site last November, almost nine months after G-P shut it down, leaving over 400 workers in 40 towns without jobs. During that nine-month period, several deals with potential buyers fell through, prompting Governor Baldacci to approach Red Shield Environmental, LLC with the idea of buying the site and “transforming” it into a state-of-the-art energy facility that would house multiple manufacturers.

Since Red Shield purchased the mill site, Tamarack Energy, the company slated to oversee the day to day operations of the biomass boiler previously used by G-P, was dropped from the roster after officials decided to use their own employees to operate the boiler. The boiler is used to produce electricity that is then sold to the grid as well as reused for its own operation.

            Logue said that there could be fines involved if Red Shield is found to be in violation of its air and solid waste permits.

            “But right now, we’re just trying to solve this problem,” he said.