[EnviroEngr]

Mirant Corp. Temporarily Shutters Va. Plant to Avoid Air Violations

Aug. 26 -- Mirant Corp. temporarily shut down its Alexandria, Va., power plant to prevent exceeding National Ambient Air Quality Standards in the area.

The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality gave the company until Aug. 24 to determine what action it would take to avoid air quality violations. Mirant officials decided to idle the plant Aug. 24 and keep it on standby mode for 24 hours to allow for quicker restart.

The five-unit, 482-megawatt plant generates electricity for Washington and surrounding communities. Computer modeling showed that three types of air pollutants emitted by the plant - particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide - had the potential to exceed the national standards in the immediate area.

Mirant is working with the DEQ to develop short-term and long-term air-quality solutions. The Atlanta-based company owns or leases more than 18,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity globally.




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[EnviroEngr]

Sunoco to Pay for Air Permit Violations

Oct. 25 -- Sunoco Inc. has agreed to pay $123,730 for air quality permit violations and past emission fees at its Delaware County, Pa., petroleum refinery.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has documented numerous environmental problems at Sunoco’s Marcus Hook Refinery over the last few years and has levied more than $4 million in penalties against the refinery, said Joseph A. Feola, DEP southeast regional director.

The most recent agreement settles violations that include under-reporting emissions, exceeding permit limits for pollutants, record-keeping errors and incomplete environmental reports.

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Texas Petrochemicals Completes Gas Recovery Project

Oct. 25 -- Texas Petrochemicals LP has finished a flare gas emissions recovery project ahead of schedule, which will help it meet a voluntary pollution reduction agreement with the state.

The flare gas recovery process will reduce 1,3-butadiene emissions coming from the petrochemical plant’s flare. The company had planned to complete the project in 2006 as part of a voluntary butadiene reduction agreement with the Texas Commission for Environmental Quality.

Under the agreement, the company has committed to cutting annual butadiene emissions by 38,000 pounds by the end of 2008. The flare gas project will reduce some 29,000 pounds of those emissions, over 75 percent of the company’s goal.

Texas Petrochemicals specializes in producing C4 hydrocarbons, which are used as chemical building blocks for synthetic rubber, nylon carpet, adhesives, catalysts and high-performance polymers.

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Federal Renewable Energy Partnership Growing

Oct. 25 -- A federal voluntary renewable energy purchasing partnership has reached a milestone, hitting the 600-member mark, said U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen L. Johnson.

Fortune 500 companies, universities and local, state and government agencies participate in the program, called the Green Power Partnership. They purchase more than 3 billion kilowatt-hours of renewable energy annually, enough to power 300,000 average American homes.

Renewable energy from sources that include solar, wind, water, geothermal, biomass and biogas account for about 2 percent of the nation’s electricity supply. The federal government’s voluntary program supports more than 2,200 megawatts of green power generating capacity.

Under the Green Power Partnership, which the EPA launched in 2001, partners pledge to switch to green power for a specified amount of their electricity needs in return for EPA technical assistance and recognition.



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Oil refinery bill fails to pass out of Senate committee

Oct. 26 -- The head of the Senate Environment Committee failed to pass legislation out of his committee during an Oct. 26 vote that would have made it easier for oil refineries to expand.

Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., the committee chairman, urged passage of the bill to increase gasoline production and lower fuel costs, but critics said the bill would lead to more pollution and giveaways to the oil industry.

Inhofe’s bill failed after Sen. Lincoln Chafee, R-R.I., announced he would not support the measure and voted with the committee’s eight Democrats to defeat the Gas Price Act, which would have streamlined the permitting process for opening new refineries and reduced the amount of time required to obtain permits. A maze of permitting requirements has discouraged oil companies from opening new refineries to boost production, Inhofe argued.

Democrats, however, expressed skepticism that permitting entanglements were behind the oil companies’ reluctance to open new refineries, saying oil companies have an economic incentive to keep fuel prices high.

They also objected to a portion of the bill that would have offered economic incentives to communities wanting to help oil companies develop refineries on closed military bases. Democratic critics called it a giveaway to oil companies that already are making large profits.

While voting against Inhofe’s bill, Chafee also helped defeat a counter proposal put forward by Sen. James Jeffords, I-Vt., that would have created what he called an oil refinery reserve to provide fuel under emergency situations.

The Jeffords’ amendment would have allowed the Environmental Protection Agency, acting in cooperation with the Energy Department, to reopen and operate closed refineries or construct new refineries. Jeffords said it would operate similar to the existing strategic petroleum reserve.

However, Sen. Christopher Bond, R-Mo., called Jeffords’ proposal ``mind-boggling.´´ He said it would represent nationalization of the oil industry and equated it with socialism.



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N.J. Utility Authority Unveils Hybrid Solar-Wind Power Plant

Dec. 12 -- The Atlantic County Utilities Authority unveiled one of the largest hybrid solar-wind power plants in the world Dec. 12.

The 8-megawatt power plant will generate electricity for the authority´s wastewater treatment plant in Atlantic City, N.J. The treatment plant is the first in the United States to be powered by a combined solar-wind system.

The system will produce about 40.8 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually. The solar energy system includes two rooftop photovoltaic arrays, one mounted on a carport and two arrays on the ground.



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EPA to Issue Final Rule on Vehicle Aging for Emission Standards

Jan. 3 -- Federal environmental regulators are taking two actions related to the durability of automobile emission equipment.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is issuing a final rule establishing vehicle aging procedures that auto manufacturers must use to demonstrate that their vehicles will continue to meet emission standards throughout the required useful life of the vehicle, which is 120,000 miles for most cars and light trucks.

In addition, the EPA is proposing options for testing the durability of vehicle emission-related components, such as oxygen sensors and catalytic converters.

Details are available online at www.epa.gov/otaq/ld-hwy.htm#cap2k

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Illinois Ethanol Plant to Pay $2 Million to Settle Case

Dec. 29 -- An Illinois ethanol production company will pay a $171,800 civil penalty and spend as much as $2 million to reduce annual emissions at its production plant by more than 1,700 tons.

MGP Ingredients of Illinois Inc. agreed to the terms to settle a Clean Air Act complaint by the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.

The plaintiffs alleged the company skirted air pollution rules at its Pekin, Ill., ethanol production plant by failing to get the proper permit before making a major modification at the plant. The company also failed to install pollution controls that the permit would have required.

As part of the consent decree, MGP Ingredients will install the pollution control equipment, which will reduce volatile organic compound emissions by 95 percent and carbon monoxide by 90 percent. The equipment installation will cost the company between $1 million and $2 million.

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U.S. EPA Moves on New 3% Renewable Fuel Standard

Dec. 29 -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will require fuel makers to ensure that nearly 3 percent of the gasoline sold in 2006 comes from renewable fuel, such as ethanol.

The EPA´s interim rule released Dec. 28 governs the implementation of the Renewable Fuels Standard, which Congress created as part of the Energy Policy Act of 2005.

The EPA rule requires the use of 4 billion gallons of renewable fuel beginning in 2006, with the usage increasing to 7.5 billion gallons in 2012.

The use of clean-burning, domestic renewable fuels should reduce vehicle emissions and strengthen U.S. energy security, according to the EPA.

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GreenShift to Build Biodiesel Plant in Indiana

Dec. 28 -- GreenShift Corp. has unveiled plans to build a 30-million-gallon-per-year biodiesel production facility in northeastern Indiana.

The facility will be one of five such plants that the company´s Mean Green BioFuels Corp. subsidiary plans to build, own and operate by the end of 2006. The annual production capacity of the biodiesel plants will range from 20 million to 60 million gallons.

Mean Green BioFuels produces biodiesel fuel from soybean oil, animal fats from rendering operations and wastewater sludge and corn oil extracted from ethanol facilities.

Arlington, N.J.-based GreenShift is a publicly traded natural resources and environmental business development company.



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