Air: [Biofuel] Plants emit higher levels of toxics than expected

Facilities have run key tests at less-than-full capacity and exceeded limits for harmful emissions.

Six plants in Iowa have released more lung-harming particles than their permits allow.

Other plants have failed to do required tests for extended periods of time.

Air pollution from the plants can irritate lungs and contribute to smog that threatens people’s health. Some chemicals released by ethanol plants are classified as cancer-causing compounds. The Register analyzed 34 plants operating over six years.

The infractions are perhaps the most surprising in biofuels plants’ environmental performance, said Wayne Gieselman, Iowa’s environmental-protection chief. That’s because as the industry grew in Iowa, no one expected the levels of cancer-causing chemicals emitted by both combustion and the production processes at the plants.

Among the most serious violators in Iowa has been Quad County Corn Processors Cooperative in Galva. In 2000, the company said in its construction permit application that it would emit less than 70 tons a year of volatile organic compounds, the solvents and chemicals that can irritate lungs and cause pulmonary problems. Tests later showed that the distiller’s grain dryer alone was capable of emitting 732 tons.

Des Moines Register