Guest Article: Citizens still concerned about community health hazards from L'Anse Warden Electric Company plant

The L'Anse Warden Electric Company (LWEC) "biomass" plant in L'Anse, Michigan, has been the subject of citizen complaints about pollution, especially non-compliance with air quality standards. At right is the Falls River, which flows into Lake Superior. (Photo © and courtesy Horst Schmidt)

By Catherine Andrews, L'Anse Township resident

In the March 29, Daily Mining Gazette (DMG) cover story, Steve Walsh, General Manager/Chief Operating Officer of L'Anse Warden Electric Company (LWEC) opines that Friends of the Land of Keweenaw (FOLK) and Partnership for Policy Integrity (PFPI) are 100 percent against jobs in Baraga County. How he arrives at this conclusion is puzzling in light of a recent conversation I had with him.
(Inset photo: Guest author Catherine Andrews, speaking about the L'Anse Warden Electric Company plant during a meeting of Friends of the Land of Keweenaw last October. Keweenaw Now file photo.)*

On February 24, Walsh repeatedly accused me, and others, of wanting money from him.  I explained  that we are concerned about community health, the health of L'Anse Warden Electric Company (LWEC) employees and the environment. My perception is that he fails to grasp the concept that anyone would value health over money.

A major criteria pollutant emitted from the LWEC stack is Hydrogen Chloride (HCl). The permit limit is 2.17 pounds per hour. A September 24 stack test revealed 5.19 pounds per hour. HCl forms hydrochloric acid, also known as muriatic acid, upon contact with atmospheric humidity. HCl is just one of many chemicals emitted from LWEC.

Exposure to HCl may cause eye, nose and respiratory tract irritation and inflammation and pulmonary edema. Exposure to skin may cause severe burns, ulcerations and scarring.

This photo shows the smokestack of the LWEC plant very near the BHK Child Development Center. (Photo © and courtesy Catherine Andrews) 

When I expressed concern regarding LWEC's close proximity to the BHK Child Development Center, Walsh said, "It should not have been built so close to a power plant."

This photo shows the proximity of the BHK Child Development Center to the conveyor that delivers chipped railroad ties and wood chips used for fuel in the LWEC plant. The receiving hopper (to the right of the conveyor) and the conveyor are sources of fugitive dust. The photo was taken from the river side of the plant. (Photo © and courtesy Catherine Andrews)

BHK was built in 1998, five years after the Warden Plant stopped burning coal in 1993, and 10 years before Traxys purchased the shuttered plant in order to convert it to a Biomass facility.

Even though MDEQ (Michigan Dept. of Environmental Quality) and EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) are investigating noncompliance issues within LWEC's expired permit, Walsh's statement to the L'Anse Village Council that LWEC is in no imminent danger of being shut down is probably true. As seen in Flint, extraordinary bureaucratic bungling persists until agencies are forced by public pressure to do their job.

Green Hill Manor, at left, is a senior housing facility, some of whose residents have complained about dust from the LWEC plant. (Photo © and courtesy Horst Schmidt)

Walsh's allegations that citizen activists want to shut down LWEC are completely fabricated. I specifically told him that this whole issue would be resolved if LWEC converted to natural gas, which is already utilized during shut down and start up operations. I have been very clear that using natural gas is preferable to burning chemically treated railroad ties, chipped tires and other chemically treated products. I sincerely hope that most of the 17 people (not 35 as was quoted in the DMG article) who are employed at the plant would continue to be employed if the plant converts to natural gas.

This is a recent photo of railroad ties to be used at the LWEC plant. At right, in the background, is Lake Superior's Keweenaw Bay. (Photo © and courtesy Horst Schmidt)

Traxys, owner of the LWEC plant, is a subsidiary of a private equity investment company. They purchase devalued property and acquire Federal subsidies (LWEC received over 11 million) and other incentives to start up new businesses. Once the new business becomes operational, the company is sold for a sweet profit. LWEC has been for sale for three years.

Traxys never intended to become a long term, integral player in the Baraga County economy. L'Anse is only a blip on their balance sheet and will be stuck with a toxic legacy that will remain long after Traxys has moved on.**

Editor's Notes:

* See our Dec. 4, 2015, article, "FOLK, local residents, EPA investigate L'Anse Warden biomass plant permit violations; DEQ to hold public hearings." 
 
** See also our Oct. 29, 2015, article, "Guest article: Questions on air pollution from L'Anse Warden biomass plant and postponed public hearing," by Diane Miller. Note that the public hearing on the LWEC plant, mentioned as scheduled by MDEQ, has not yet been held.

FOLK, local residents, EPA investigate L'Anse Warden biomass plant permit violations; DEQ to hold public hearings

By Michele Bourdieu, with information from Friends of the Land of Keweenaw (FOLK) and Michigan DEQ

Pictured here are chemically treated railroad ties waiting to be chipped for use in the L'Anse Warden biomass plant in L'Anse, Michigan. (Photo © and courtesy Catherine Andrews)

L'ANSE -- The L'Anse Warden Electric Company (LWEC), an alleged Biomass Plant located on the shore of Lake Superior, is operating in spite of violating their operating permit. Even though their permit only requires an independent stack test once every five years, they were unable to meet the emissions standard for hydrogen chloride on September 24, 2015.

According to Friends of the Land of Keweenaw (FOLK), a regional grassroots environmental group, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is failing to protect local citizens and the environment. Citizen complaints of noxious odors, fugitive dust releases, open piles of shredded tires, "soot blowing" and exposed stockpiles of chemically-treated railroad ties on the ground in the fuel yard have been rebuffed by the DEQ.

During FOLK's annual meeting in October, L'Anse resident Catherine Andrews spoke about citizen complaints and pointed out some facts about the LWEC plant. The fuel mix burned in the plant includes 4 tons per hour of tire derived fuel (TDF), 20.1 tons per hour of creosote-treated railroad ties, .25 tons per hour of pentachlorophenol (PCP)-treated railroad ties from Canada, and 5.4 tons per hour of fines and bark (aka wood chips).

At the Oct. 8 annual FOLK meeting in the Portage Lake District Library, L'Anse resident Catherine Andrews reported on apparent pollution from the plant. She is pictured here with a display of articles about the L'Anse Warden Plant in local newspapers, including especially the L'Anse Sentinel. (Photo by Keweenaw Now)

"Two local doctors have expressed concerns (about pollution from the plant)," Andrews said at the meeting.

Since the doctors have spoken out, reporting, for example, that patients have suffered from respiratory ailments, the local residents are more empowered to voice their complaints, Andrews added.

She noted pentachlorophenol (PCP) has been banned in the U.S. since 1984, with some exceptions for industrial use.

One person in the audience at the FOLK meeting made this comment on Canada's sending the PCP-treated railroad ties to the L'Anse plant: "We are the waste disposal for Canada!"

According to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), both pentachlorophenol and creosote are health hazards.

"Exposure to high levels of pentachlorophenol can cause increases in body temperature, liver effects, damage to the immune system, reproductive effects, and developmental effects," says a fact sheet from ATSDR.*

ATSDR adds, "The EPA has determined that pentachlorophenol is a probable human carcinogen and the International Agency for Cancer Research (IARC) considers it possibly carcinogenic to humans."*

ATSDR offers similar warnings about creosote.

"Coal tar creosote is the most widely used wood preservative in the United States," according to ATSDR. "Breathing vapors of the creosotes, coal tar, coal tar pitch, or coal tar pitch volatiles can cause irritation of the respiratory tract." **

ATSDR adds the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and EPA have both determined that coal tar creosote is probably carcinogenic to humans.**

FOLK sent a letter to ATSDR on Nov. 30, 2015, requesting that the agency "conduct a health consultation to evaluate the health risks associated with the operations of the L’Anse Warden Electric Company (LWEC) biomass power facility, associated fuels management facility and legacy pollution associated with the adjacent CertainTeed mineral board plant."

In the letter FOLK mentions receiving complaints from L'Anse area residents about exposure to hazardous substances, blowing soot from the LWEC, acrid odors and maintenance activity resulting in loud explosions and large releases of soot. FOLK also notes concerns about a high likelihood of lingering legacy pollutants, including asbestos and other toxic chemicals, from the nearby CertainTeed operation.

LWEC is located near a preschool Child Development Center, a HUD assisted living complex and a K-8 Catholic School. The Falls River flows into Lake Superior between the fuel yard, where contaminated fuel sources are stored, and the boiler.

Local resident and business owner Aileen Ketola states, "Think of what this is doing to the children. They are killing us! Why doesn't somebody stop them?"

Shredded tires are stored outside before being burned. Tire particulates drift to surrounding areas, including a nearby school, where black soot lands on children's clothing. (Photo © and courtesy Catherine Andrews)

Andrews, who has worked as a volunteer at the assisted living complex, noted complaints by the residents.

"A few people have moved because of the odors, dust and soot," she said.

One person who moved from the assisted living reported not having to take his allergy medicine after moving away.

LWEC continues to burn a combination of natural gas, chemically-treated railroad ties, "fines and bark" and shredded tires, leading many to argue that the plant should be classified as a Commercial and Industrial Solid Waste Incinerator (CISWI) instead of a Biomass Plant.

Dedicated efforts by the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, FOLK, Partnership for Public Integrity and other concerned citizens have led the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to assign "Priority Status" to their review of the allegations against LWEC. On Nov. 4, 2015, EPA sent a certified letter to the Chief Operating Officer of LWEC requiring him to submit their records including proof of the assertions of compliance they have made in the past.

The DEQ initially granted a public hearing in L'Anse for October 29, 2015, but postponed it until January after LWEC was found to be in violation of its operating permit. Later, the DEQ postponed the meeting again until March 2016.

DEQ to hold public hearings on changes in Air Pollution Control Rules Dec. 7

On Oct. 26, 2015, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) announced it is seeking public comment about proposed changes to its Air Pollution Control Rules and will hold public hearings on these changes Dec. 7 in Lansing. The extended comment period runs through Dec. 18. These documents, as well as the proposed language changes to the rules and the public hearing notice, are available at www.deq.state.mi.us/aps/downloads/SIP/AQD-SIP.shtml. The proposed changes address transparency and public engagement, as well as the analysis of toxic air contaminants. In addition, they include updates to the requirements for Renewable Operating Permits (ROPs) and revisions to the overall exemptions from obtaining installation permits.

Diane Miller, a former Keweenaw resident and Finlandia professor, who now teaches at Mid Michigan Community College downstate, has done research on the L'Anse Warden Plant and continues to express her concerns about its pollution.*** She plans to attend the Dec. 7 hearing in Lansing on the Air Pollution Control Rules and hopes to attend the hearing on the L'Anse Warden Plant now scheduled for March.

Diane Miller (standing, left) joins Catherine Andrews in a presentation on biomass, "Power from Trees?" at the Portage Lake District Library in April 2015. Based on their research, Miller and Andrews challenged claims that biomass is "environmentally friendly" and fielded questions from the audience. (Photo by Keweenaw Now)

"As I try to figure out how and why the DEQ allows the L'Anse Warden biomass plant, which is in violation of air quality standards, to continue operating beyond the expiration of its current operating permit, and as I prepare to come to a public hearing on the matter that was postponed in October, scheduled for "sometime in January," and postponed again for "sometime in March," I feel I need to learn more about how the DEQ works," Miller told Keweenaw Now recently. "So when the DEQ announced an opportunity to comment on proposed air quality rule changes, I decided I needed to participate."

Miller notes the language in the DEQ rules is not easy to decipher, and she hopes the Dec. 7 hearing will provide an opportunity to have her questions answered.

"I will genuinely be asking for answers on how our air quality is being monitored and protected," she said.

The DEQ will host the two public hearings on Air Pollution Control Rules changes Monday, Dec. 7, in the Con Con Rooms, Constitution Hall, Atrium Level, 525 West Allegan Street in Lansing, including an opportunity to discuss the proposed changes with DEQ staff for one hour before the formal hearing begins. To accommodate different schedules, the hearing is split into afternoon and evening sessions, with question and answer times preceding each. The hearing will run from 3 p.m. - 5 p.m. and reconvene at 7 p.m. Interested individuals are invited to either or both sessions. 

Editor's Notes:

* Click here for more details in a Fact Sheet on pentachlorophenol from ATSDR.

** Click here for a similar ATSDR Fact Sheet on creosote.

*** See a recent Keweenaw Now guest article by Diane Miller, "Guest article: Questions on air pollution from L'Anse Warden biomass plant and postponed public hearing."

Guest article: Questions on air pollution from L'Anse Warden biomass plant and postponed public hearing

These railroad ties and wood chips, to be burned in the L'Anse Warden Electric Company's biomass plant, appear to be stacked near a wetland. (Photo courtesy Diane Miller)

By Diane Miller*

As a lover of clean air and wild places, and a communication professor who emphasizes the need to become informed and participate in the democratic process, I have some bad news, some good news, and a few questions that hope you can help me with.

Bad news: The L’Anse Warden Electric Company, LLC, markets itself as "green." This is bad news because this biomass incinerator burns up our forests and our tax dollars, and it’s allowed to spit out more kinds of serious air pollution every single day than most coal-fired power plants in Michigan.

Good News: The Renewable Operating Permit for the Warden Plant expires at the end of this year. This is good news, because our democratic process provides for public input on the renewal of the plant’s permit. That is, we are allowed to communicate with the regulatory bodies charged with monitoring the plant’s environmental effects, with the idea that our public officials could stop allowing private companies to release toxins into our air.

Bad news: An important element of this public comment process -- a public hearing that had been scheduled for this evening -- October 29 -- has been postponed because, according to an October 21 Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) press release, "the company’s latest emissions testing indicates it may not be able to comply with air quality regulations."

Huh?

The press release gives this explanation: "The DEQ cannot move forward with the current draft renewable operating permit if a non-compliance issue exists."

Is this good news?  That is, does this mean that since the plant is not complying with emissions limits, the hearing is not needed because the plant will shut down -- either immediately or on January 1? Nope. According to DEQ spokesperson Ed Lancaster, the plant has successfully applied for an "Application Shield." This seems to mean that the plant’s admission of non-compliance is one way to avoid having to comply: even after the current operating permit expires, Warden gets to keep burning.

Diane Miller, left, the author of this article, joins Catherine Andrews, right, in a presentation on biomass at the Portage Lake District Library last April. Since then both of them have been researching the emissions from the L'Anse Warden biomass plant. (Photo by Keweenaw Now)

According to the air quality terminology link at epa.gov, "A permit shield can protect a source from enforcement of an applicable requirement under two circumstances: 1) where that applicable requirement has been included in the permit and is therefore enforced through the permit, or 2) where it has been determined that the requirement does not apply to the source. Under no circumstances should a permit shield be used to exempt a source from a requirement to which it is subject."

Huh?

If the requirement is included in and enforced through the permit, why would the application shield be needed? If the second scenario is the case, why does the requirement suddenly not apply? Let’s make sure we don’t forget this part of the definition: "Under no circumstances should a permit shield be used to exempt a source from a requirement to which it is subject."

Meanwhile, although we have been told that the current permit is not moving forward, the process itself does seem to be moving forward after all: According to Lancaster, the DEQ expects to hold a hearing sometime in January -- a much more difficult month than October in which to gather concerned citizens in L’Anse Michigan. The DEQ is required to announce the date 30 days before the hearing.

Given this confusing situation, it is good news that the DEQ will extend the period during which it will accept public comment through telephone and mail -- we’ve got that contact info for you at the end of this article. But first, I have a couple of more questions. How do you feel about renewing the operating permit of a facility that is referred to as "green," but according to the August 10, 2015, draft, will be licensed to:

• Burn natural gas for up to 49 percent of its annual heat input?
• Burn old tires -- 32,800 TONS per year?
• Burn railroad ties -- 72,078 TONS per year of the creosote-soaked variety, and 6 TONS per day of extremely toxic pentachlorophenol-soaked wood? (Who will be monitoring which railroad ties are which as they go into the hopper?)
• Burn 44,280 TONS of wood "fines" (small particles) and bark every year? (Aren’t "fines" former trees?)**

Old tires at the L'Anse Warden plant are used for Tire Derived Fuel (TDF). (Photo courtesy Diane Miller)

These are just some of the practices that contribute to the Warden Plant’s reputation as one of the world’s worst biomass plants. Meanwhile, ALL biomass plants share these core problems that make all large-scale biomass burning for power generation the opposite of "green":

1. Although biomass burning is touted as "carbon neutral," it is not. Burning wood is simply not carbon neutral -- even if invested parties say it is. Biomass produces about 40 percent more emissions than coal for every unit of energy generated. While it is true that "waste" wood otherwise left on the forest floor would also emit carbon, this decomposition takes years, sometimes decades, and happens to be essential to the health of the forest. It also takes decades, even centuries, for "harvested" forests to grow back -- if they can. Large, living trees, meanwhile, absorb large amounts of carbon -- currently as much as 15 percent of our total emissions. The small trees planted to replace them cannot do this job. So, to think of biomass burning as carbon neutral seems a lot like using your credit card to pay for an expensive dinner, then somehow hoping that long after it’s over, you -- and your children and their children’s children -- will pay the bill and its interest, which has grown faster than the children’s ability to pay.

2. Biomass plants do not burn only sawdust or other "waste wood" -- instead of whole trees. Google "aerial view of biomass plant," the celebrated McNeil plant, for example, in Vermont, and see how it is surrounded by stacks of what used to be forest, ready to help charge our cell phones and our hair dryers. But what is "waste wood" anyway? We know how dead limbs are needed by the forest, to build soil and provide homes for animals. As Mother Nature would tell us if we asked, there is no such thing as "waste wood."

3. Biomass burning does not lead us away from fossil fuels. In fact, the practice depends on fossil fuels in a variety of ways. First of all, it takes a lot of diesel fuel and natural gas not only to ignite the wood, which is often green and difficult to burn, but also as a backup when the plants break down; and they frequently do. Fossil fuels power the large equipment required to cut, gather, and haul wood for burning. And now that our forests’ soils have been depleted by third and fourth cuttings, petroleum-based fertilizers are being applied in some areas by airplanes. So how does anyone make a profit doing this? Because of government subsidies for "green" energy, plant owners can still make a profit even though their practices are not cost- or energy-efficient.

4. Biomass burning is not environmentally friendly. The list of heavy metals and volatile organic compounds released from biomass plant smokestacks is too long to include here, but you can see which ones the Warden Plant is allowed to release by reading its operating permit.** Worse, the increased demand for forest products exacerbates the reduction in wildlife habitat that has become a crisis for many species -- again a long list, easier to spell, but more painful to think about.

This sample of black melted snow taken from the playground of the BHK pre-school located near the L'Anse Warden plant was exhibited at the April 2015 presentation on biomass at Portage Lake District Library. Since then it has been analyzed at Michigan Tech and determined to contain particles of tires. Black snow on children's clothing raised concerns by parents and teachers about pollution from the plant. (Photo by Keweenaw Now)***

5. There is not enough wood to provide a meaningful amount of energy for our needs. According to ecologist Marvin Roberson’s article in the April 27, 2014, Detroit Free Press, "If we used all the forest growth from all of Michigan’s forests for biomass, including state parks, all private, protected and public lands, and closed down all current consumers of timber (lumber, paper, etc.), we would generate less than 7 percent of Michigan’s electrical needs." Indeed, if biomass burning were the sustainable practice it is touted to be, shouldn’t a country who engages in it be able to rely on its own resources? European countries, including Germany and Finland, don’t. Their imported wood chips are our exported former forests riding on a boat. Worst of all, while the burning of forests, tires, and trash has provided a measurable amount of electricity, it does not seem to have reduced the amount of electricity produced from other sources. Rather, we just keep using more.

I am not attacking people who burn wood to heat their homes. I do this too. I’m talking here about large-scale burning for electricity -- and ALL biomass plants fall into this category.

I could go on. But don’t take my word for it. You can look these things up for yourselves, starting with the Warden Plant’s (Draft) Renewable Operating Permit.**

Then, please, please, please make a comment to the Department of Environmental Quality. (The DEQ is still accepting comment until the public hearing date, which has not yet been announced but will probably be held in January.) Here’s how to submit comments:
Contact Ed Lancaster by calling 906-228-4853 or writing to him at the Upper Peninsula District Office, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality Air Quality, Air Quality Division, 1504 West Washington St., Marquette, MI 49855.

Editor's Note:
Just after Diane Miller submitted this article, the DEQ announced early this week that it is also seeking public comment about proposed changes to its Air Pollution Control Rules. The extended comment period on these changes runs through Dec. 18. Two public hearings will be held on Dec. 7, 2015, in Lansing. (It is not clear whether this affects the ROP for the L'Anse Warden plant.) Click here for details.

Notes:

* Guest writer Diane Miller is a former Keweenaw resident and former Finlandia University communication professor. She now teaches at a community college downstate.

** See the Aug. 10, 2015, Draft Renewable Operating Permit for the Warden Plant.

*** See our Sept. 16, 2015, article, "Groups cite deficiencies in draft air permit for L’Anse Warden plant, potential health hazards from emissions."