Pa. strengthens air pollution standards for incinerators

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection recently adopted new regulations that will reduce air pollution coming from the state’s existing six trash incinerators.

Nitrogen oxide (NOx) contributes to the formation of ground-level ozone, also known as smog. At high enough concentrations, the gas can adversely affect public health and the environment.

The DEP is periodically required under the federal Clean Air Act to review whether large sources of NOx have sufficient pollution control technologies.

The previous state standard for NOx emissions was 180 parts per million on a daily average. The Clean Air Council and the Environmental Integrity Project, two organizations dedicated to strengthening environmental laws, felt that was too high.

While DEP sought to lower the standard to 150 parts per million on a daily average in August, the Clean Air Council and the Environmental Integrity Project submitted extensive technical comments, arguing emissions can be reduced even more.

“We actually pushed for something that was even lower than what the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection ultimately set. We pushed for the standards that would be set for new incinerators, which was 45 parts per million on a daily average — but we also noted that it’s been shown that existing incinerators can meet 110 parts per million on a daily average,” said Leah Kelly, senior attorney with the Environmental Integrity Project.

In response to their comments, the DEP issued a new set of regulations on Nov. 12, setting a 110 parts per million limit on NOx emissions.