Rock-Tenn Community Advisory Panel

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• Rock-Tenn Community Advisory Panel
• October 22, 2007

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Air Pollution Effects

• Acid Rain
• Climate Change
• Economic Effects
• Environmental Effects
• Global Warming
• Health Effects
• Heat Island Effect
• Risk Assessment

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NAB Mission

• Neighbors Against the Burner speaks with a
  community voice to protect the people and natural
  resources of Minnesota by supporting sustainable,
  safe, and clean energy production and rejecting
  unsafe, polluting, and outdated technologies such
  as incineration.

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We have no preconceived idea as to what that
recommendation will be. - Kenneth Johnson,
President Saint Paul Port Authority September
21, 2007
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We don't have any models that are without
RDF. - Jack Greenshields Rock-Tenn plant
manager TC Daily Planet, March 9, 2007
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• To get an economically feasible plant working
  at Rock-Tenn, you have to have a certain amount
  of RDF.
• Anders Rydaker
• District Energy
• Pioneer Press, March 3, 2007

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Minnesota 2005-06 Legislation

• M.S. 116.90
• A biomass burner is allowed to burn 30
• percent RDF (garbage)
• M.S. 216B.2424
• Even Broader Exemptions and Flexibilities

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What is in RDF? Whats in the GARBAGE you
throw away...
Pellets
Fluff
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June 13, 2007 Thomas Friends recall of 1.5
million wooden railway toys Sourcehttp//www.myf
oxtwincities.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId
4468517version3localeEN-USlayoutCodeTSTYpa
geId1.1.1
August 14, 2007 Mattel recalls over 9 million
toys Source http//kstp.com/article/stories/S1668
90.shtml?cat1
September 26, 2007 Toys and children's necklaces
made in China were recalled Wednesday Consumer
Product Safety Commission. Sourcehttp//www.myfox
twincities.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId4
468517version3localeEN-USlayoutCodeTSTYpage
Id1.1.1
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September 12, 2007 Fixit Smoke alarm beeps?
Sensor may be dusty By Karen Youso, Star
Tribune Last update September 12, 2007 420
PM http//www.startribune.com/397/story/1418585.ht
ml To dispose of a smoke detector, the
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency recommends
contacting the manufacturer (by phone or website)
to see if it has a take-back program. Smoke
detectors contain a small amount of radioactive
material and should be returned to the
manufacturer for disposal. If that is not
possible, remove the batteries and place the
detector in the trash.
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6 Ambient Air Pollutants

• Nitrogen Oxides
• Acid rain, ozone, global warming
• Sulfur Dioxide
• Acid rain, smog, asthma
• Carbon Monoxide
• Heart disease, nervous system poison
• Lead
• Damages organs, nerves and the brain
• Ozone
• Particles (dust) PM 10 and PM 2.5

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Ozone

• Breathing ozone can trigger a variety of health
  problems including chest pain, coughing, throat
  irritation, and congestion. It can worsen
  bronchitis, emphysema, and asthma. Ground-level
  ozone also can reduce lung function and inflame
  the linings of the lungs. Repeated exposure may
  permanently scar lung tissue.
• - EPA

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Particulate Matter

• Increased respiratory symptoms, such as
  irritation of the airways, coughing, or
  difficulty breathing
• Decreased lung function
• Aggravated asthma
• Development of chronic bronchitis
• Irregular heartbeat
• Nonfatal heart attacks
• Premature death in people with heart or lung
  disease
• - EPA

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Carbon Dioxide
Excel Energy St. Paul Monthly Statement
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Sulfur Dioxide
Excel Energy St. Paul Monthly Statement
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Nitrogen Oxides
Excel Energy St. Paul Monthly Statement
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Particulate Matter
Excel Energy St. Paul Monthly Statement
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Other Pollutants

• Incinerator emissions are a major source of
  fine particulates, of toxic metals, and of more
  than 200 organic compounds, including known
  carcinogens, mutagens, and hormone disruptors.
• The Health Effects of Waste Incinerators, 4th
  Report of the British Society for Ecological
  Medicine. Dr. Jeremy Thompson and Dr. Honor
  Anthony. December 2005.

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Short List

• Beryllium, mercury, carbon dioxide, lead,
  cadmium, arsenic, chromium, halogenated
  hydrocarbons, acid gases, greenhouse gases,
  incinerator ash, PCBs
• Dioxins, furans, nanoparticles and undefined
  compounds

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• Since the nature of waste is continually
  changing, so is the chemical nature of the
  incinerator emissions, and therefore the
  potential for adverse health effects.
• The Health Effects of Waste Incinerators, 4th
  Report of the British Society for Ecological
  Medicine. Dr. Jeremy Thompson and Dr. Honor
  Anthony. December 2005.

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Dioxins

• Dioxins rarely occur in nature
• Agent Orange, Love Canal
• Created through the burning of plastics and
  chlorine at very high temperatures
• Act on the cellular level, meaning there is no
  safe dosage any amount of dioxin can trigger an
  unhealthy reaction such as cancer

Sources EPA and Institute for Agriculture and
Trade Policy
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Dioxins, cont.

• In addition to causing cancer, dioxins have been
  linked to birth defects, infertility, learning
  disabilities, immune suppression, and hormonal
  effects
• There is no emissions technology that eliminates
  or even sufficiently reduces dioxins from a
  garbage burner

Sources EPA and Institute for Agriculture and
Trade Policy
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EPA on Dioxins

• 84 come from waste incinerators (1999)
• Dioxins have the potential to produce a broad
  spectrum of adverse effects in humans by altering
  cell growth and development, causing cancer, and
  suppressing the immune system
• Exposure to dioxin occurs over a lifetime, and
  the danger is cumulative

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Health Impacts Proven

• Large studies have shown higher rates of adult
  and childhood cancer and also birth defects
  around municipal waste incinerators the results
  are consistent with the associations being
  causal. A number of smaller epidemiological
  studies support this interpretation and suggest
  that the range of illnesses produced by
  incineration may be much wider.
• The Health Effects of Waste Incinerators, 4th
  Report of the British Society for Ecological
  Medicine. Dr. Jeremy Thompson and Dr. Honor
  Anthony. December 2005.

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• We recommend that no further waste incinerators
  be built.
• The Health Effects of Waste Incinerators 4th
  Report of the British Society for Ecological
  Medicine. Dr. Jeremy Thompson and Dr. Honor
  Anthony. December 2005.

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Dying Industry

• of U.S. Garbage Incinerators
• 1991 171
• 2002 107
• 2004 89
• - Federal Reserve Bank, March 2005

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Keep St. Paul United
Neighbors Against the Burner speaks with a
community voice to protect the people and natural
resources of Minnesota by supporting sustainable,
safe and clean energy production and rejecting
unsafe, polluting and outdated technologies such
as incineration.