Prairieland Solid Waste Management Resource Recovery Facility
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ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT WORKSHEET Note to reviewers: The Environmental Assessment Worksheet (EAW) provides information about a project that may have the potential for significant environmental effects. This EAW was prepared by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA), acting as the Responsible Governmental Unit (RGU), to determine whether an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) should be prepared. The project proposer supplied reasonably accessible data for, but did not complete the final worksheet. Comments on the EAW must be submitted to the MPCA during the 30-day comment period which begins with notice of the availability of the EAW in the Minnesota Environmental Quality Board (EQB) EQB Monitor. Comments on the EAW should address the accuracy and completeness of information, potential impacts that are reasonably expected to occur that warrant further investigation, and the need for an EIS. A copy of the EAW may be obtained from the MPCA by calling 651-757-2101. An electronic version of the completed EAW is available at the MPCA website at http://www.pca.state.mn.us/news/eaw/index.html#open-eaw. 1. Project Title: Prairieland Solid Waste Management Resource Recovery Facility Prairieland Solid Waste 2. Proposer: Management Board 3. RGU: Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Contact Person Mark Bauman Contact Person William J. Lynott Title Principal Planner Title Director Environmental Review Unit Address 801 East 5th Street North Address 520 Lafayette Road North Truman, Minnesota 56088 St. Paul, Minnesota 55155-4194 Phone 507-776-3232 Phone 651-757-2542 Fax 507-776-3288 Fax 651-297-2343 E-mail [email protected] E-mail [email protected] 4. Reason for EAW Preparation: EIS Mandatory Citizen RGU Proposer Scoping EAW X Petition Discretion Volunteered If EAW or EIS is mandatory give EQB rule category subpart number and name: Minn. R. 4410.4300, subp. 17.E 5. Project Location: County Martin City/Twp Truman NW 1/4 NW 1/4 Section 10 Township 104 North Range 30 West GPS Coordinates: N 43°49’41.50” W 94°25’53.68” Tax Parcel Number p-ear2-26a TDD (for hearing and speech impaired only): 651-282-5332 Printed on recycled paper containing 30% fibers from paper recycled by consumers Tables, Figures, and Appendices attached to the EAW: • Attachment 1 – U.S. Geological Survey map showing the general location of the project • Attachment 2 – Aerial photo showing location in Truman • Attachment 3 – Site map showing stormwater flow directions 6. Description: a. Provide a project summary of 50 words or less to be published in the EQB Monitor. The Prairieland Solid Waste Management Board proposes to convert the existing Prairieland Resource Recovery/Composting Facility in Truman from the production of compost to the production of refuse derived fuel (RDF). The proposal would include increasing the solid waste feedstock input from 100 tons per day to up to an average 200 tons per day. The project involves internal equipment changes to accommodate the change in product, but the facility footprint would not change. b. Give a complete description of the proposed project and related new construction. Attach additional sheets as necessary. Emphasize construction, operation methods and features that will cause physical manipulation of the environment or will produce wastes. Include modifications to existing equipment or industrial processes and significant demolition, removal or remodeling of existing structures. Indicate the timing and duration of construction activities. The facility is operated to provide an integrated waste management system for Martin and Faribault Counties. The facility is the primary component of the integrated system that diverts waste from the landfill. This integrated system recovers materials for recycling from the municipal solid waste (MSW) stream and currently produces primarily compost and a small amount of RDF. This abates the landfilling of unprocessed mixed MSW. All waste processing, composting, curing, storage, and RDF production activities are conducted in enclosed buildings. Currently, the facility uses one processing line and the Siloda composting process, a French proprietary system of grinders, turners, and conveyors that prepares incoming solid waste for composting. After the garbage trucks dump the waste on the tipping floor, non-processables, recyclable metals and rejects are sort-separated and placed in a trailer for disposal or recycling elsewhere. A portable waste shredder on the tipping floor performs size reduction and sorting on bulky and oversized material and reduces the amount of waste sent to the landfill. Waste is then pushed by front-end loaders from the tipping floor onto the in-feed conveyor, which feeds a vertical shaft shredder in an explosion resistant containment room. The shredder tears the bags and grinds the waste. The size-reduced waste is subjected to magnetic separation to recover ferrous metals prior to screening. A trommel screen separates the oversized fraction (greater than three-inch, mostly plastic) as non-compostable rejects, the intermediate fraction (three inches to one inch) for composting, and the undersized fraction (less than one inch) for further screening. The non-compostable reject fraction is then compacted into trailers and sent to a RDF burn plant or to a landfill for disposal. The undersized fraction is processed further into inorganic rejects and compostables with a vibrating screen and an air classifier. A mixer is used to blend the two organic fractions and to add water. The compostable material is then conveyed to the silo building for composting. Prairieland Solid Waste Management Environmental Assessment Resource Recovery Facility 2 Worksheet Truman, Minnesota The small amount of RDF currently produced (a byproduct of the composting process) is currently burned at the Xcel Energy Wilmarth Power Plant in Mankato, Minnesota, a 22-megawatt power plant that burns 720 tons per day of RDF for power generation. The RDF specifications are as follows: Minimum Average Maximum BTU/lb 5,000 5,000-5,500 Moisture N/A 25% 40% Particle Size N/A 8” x 8” 12” x 12” Ash (dry) N/A 15% 20% Up to the present, Prairieland RDF burned in the Wilmarth facility has been commingled with RDF from an MSW processing facility operated by Resource Recovery Technologies, LLC in Newport, Minnesota. The proposed conversion of the Prairieland facility to all-RDF production requires assurance that the product will be suitable for burning at Wilmarth without commingling. Test burns for this purpose indicate that this will be acceptable. Combustion of RDF from Prairieland is currently taking place at this plant, and the Prairieland expansion project will require no changes to the Wilmarth Plant or its permits. No new buildings are planned for the facility. Equipment will continue to remove glass, grit, and ferrous metals, but be modified to combine the combustible streams into one RDF product. Plans for future modifications include a phased approach. These phases include: 1. One to two years continuing to compost, but “ramping up” RDF production using existing equipment. 2. Conclude test burning for quality assurance at Wilmarth. 3. Phase out composting and “ramp up” MSW deliveries by working with surrounding counties to bring in more MSW. 4. If an agreement with Xcel Energy or other waste to energy facility can be reached, after December 31, 2012, Prairieland would fully convert to RDF production, discontinue composting, and disassemble the composting equipment. 5. After removal of the composting equipment, processing to maximize RDF production would be accomplished by retaining and utilizing existing equipment up to and including the trommel screen in order to grind the waste, remove ferrous metals, and remove glass and grit as in the past. The key changes in the process would consist of combining the minus three-inch material with the plus three-inch material instead of separating the organics, and not adding water. The product would then be compacted into walking floor trailers and sent as bulk RDF to the Wilmarth Power Plant in Mankato, or other suitable facilities. 6. As the facility increases the volume of waste received, additional conveyors and compactors may be added. The equipment in the current compost refining and storage building would be re- purposed to the RDF production building as much as possible. 7. As there are no plans to add buildings or a second processing line, additional shifts or days of operation may be added to the operating schedule to process the additional incoming MSW. 8. The concrete bunkers that now serve as composting vessels would be utilized for storage of RDF when Xcel’s Wilmarth Power plant is down for maintenance. This would avoid the need to landfill the RDF. 9. All operations will remain indoors with no outdoor storage. Prairieland Solid Waste Management Environmental Assessment Resource Recovery Facility 3 Worksheet Truman, Minnesota c. Explain the project purpose; if the project will be carried out by a governmental unit, explain the need for the project and identify its beneficiaries. The purpose of the project is to expand MSW throughput, eliminate or replace unneeded equipment, and redirect operations to the production of RDF while continuing to provide resource recovery for the citizens of Faribault and Martin Counties. d. Are future stages of this development including development on any other property planned or likely to happen? Yes No e. Is this project a subsequent stage of an earlier project? Yes No If yes, briefly describe