EPA in first steps on ethanol emissions
Date: 05-Jun-02
Country: USA
Author: Eric Noe
But an EPA official said the agency is not mandating the installation of any technology because different plants may call for different solutions and it is still assessing the extent of the problem.
The EPA this week briefed representatives from 46 ethanol-producing companies at a closed-door meeting at the agency's Chicago office. The meeting followed testing that found five ethanol plants in Minnesota and Indiana producing carcinogenic emissions at higher levels than the companies had previously stated.
The EPA believes that the production of carcinogens may be common for ethanol plants.
"We're at the beginning of the process, and one of the next steps is to determine which of the facilities has these emissions issues," said Tom Skinner, the EPA's Region 5 administrator.
Corn-based ethanol is a gasoline additive which helps gas burn cleaner. The primary source of pollution in ethanol production is the drying process that turns "mash," or the corn residue left over after making ethanol, into livestock feed.
"There were no negotiations. Those are going to come later if they come at all. The idea was just to make sure that everybody had a common foundation," Skinner said.
The proposals to cut toxic byproducts included implementing thermal oxidizers, which control the emission of carcinogens, but Skinner said it was too early in the process to force producers to install oxidizers.
"We have not at this point mandated that any technology be installed," Skinner said. "We want to work individually with these plants because they're not all the same."
Skinner said the EPA has not made any decisions on possible fines or penalties for ethanol producers who are exceeding legal emissions levels.
In April the EPA sent a letter to the ethanol industry calling for Monday's meeting as a means to resolve the potential pollution problems "on terms most favorable to the industry." Environmental groups have expressed reservations about the private meeting.
"There is a concern that they might be talking about cutting some sort of special deal that will be very advantageous to the ethanol industry and not so advantageous to breathers," said Frank O'Donnell, executive director of the Clean Air Trust, a nonprofit environmental group.
But Skinner said this week's meeting was not politically influenced.
"This issue has nothing to do with the national debate," Skinner said. "This is really about emissions. It's not about whether ethanol is a good thing or a bad thing."
The Senate energy bill passed last month included language that would triple ethanol use by 2012. That provision is expected to emerge in a final energy bill produced by Congress.