Boiler

March 21, 2007

Further testing is need to determine when Red Shield will be allowed to burn construction and demolition debris (C and D) in its biomass boiler, according to Ed Logue of the Maine Department of Environmental Protection.

            On Monday, Logue said that an “air compliance person” was on site to check on the progress of repairs to the boiler following two incidents in which soot fell on the property of some Bradley residents. The boiler was shut down last week so that the source of the problem could be located and repairs could be made. After work was done on the soot collection system, the boiler was restarted on Friday.

            “It was allowed to run over the weekend on whole tree chips,” Logue said. “There can absolutely no burning of C and D wood until we’re sure that everything is working at 100 percent.”

            Following the soot emissions incident in Bradley two weeks ago, the DEP sent a letter to Red Shield, ordering them to stop burning its usual 50/50 mix C and D wood and green chips. According to Logue, a lawyer for Red Shield informed the DEP that the company had already complied with the directive and was burning only green wood chips in the boiler.

            Logue said that the attitude of Red Shield officials on Monday was “optimistic” regarding the immediate future of the biomass boiler, but that there were other issues to be resolved apart from the recent “malfunction” of the boiler. Some ash samples taken from the boiler site have tested at toxic levels since February, and the DEP is conducting more tests to determine the reason for those high readings. In accordance with DEP guidelines, anything over five milligrams per liter is considered toxic and can’t be buried in the state of Maine. Some ash that was produced at the same time as the ash now being tested has been deposited in the Juniper Ridge Landfill in West Old Town, but Casella spokesman Don Meagher said last week that the section of the state-owned landfill containing the ash has been isolated and is no longer active. If the ash deposited there is found to be toxic, he said that it would be removed through a process determined by Casella, Red Shield, and the DEP.

            “We hope to know more by mid-week,” Logue said. “At that point, maybe we can bring some resolution to the questions regarding the ash and what’s going on at the site.”