ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

August 5, 1976

N & S WOOD & PAPER CORPORATION,       

)

Petitioner,

)

PCB 76—164

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,

Respondent.

OPINION 

AND

ORDER OF THE BOARD (by Mr. Goodman):

On May 26 1976, Petitioner M & S Wood and Paper Corporation

(M & S) filed a petition for variance before the Pollution Control

Board (Board). M & S seeks extension of a prior variance from

Rule 502(a) of the Air Pollution Control Regulations (Chapter 2)

in order to burn clean, untreated wood waste and landscape waste

in an air curtain destructor. The Environmental Protection Agency

(Agency) filed its recommendation on July 8, 1976.

N & S operates a paper recycling and wood reclaiming business

at a site in Boone County, one mile east of Belvidere, Illinois.

N & S originally obtained a variance to burn landscape waste

in an air curtain destructor during the latter part of 1972.

Since that time, N & S has sought and obtained several extensions

of the original variance and has gradually improved the operation

of its air curtain destructor. (See PCB 72-236, PCB 73-368,

PCB 74—243, and PCB 75—417.) N & S seeks to continue to burn

20 to 25 tons per day of wood waste which cannot be reused. All

wood to be burned will be clean, untreated and unpainted. M & S

plans to burn wood waste five days each week, from 8:00 a.m. until

3:00 p.m. The Agency recommendation indicates that a representa-

tive of the Agency observed the operation of the air curtain de—

structor and found it to be in a well maintained condition and

operating well.

The Agency recommendation suggests that emissions from burning

clean, untreated wood waste are quite similar to emissions from

burning landscape waste. The expected emissions from open burning

landscape waste as compared to using an air curtain destructor are

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as follows:

EMISSION FACTOR IN lbs/ton

Contaminant       

Open Burning    

With Air Curtain

Particulates      

17

4.6

Carbon Monoxide     

50

Not available

Hydrocarbons       

4

0.25

Nitrogen Oxides     

2

4.0

M & S has alleged that the financial costs of alternate

means of disposal are substantially higher now than they were in

the past, which creates an economic necessity for disposing of

the wastes in the air curtain destructor. The Agency has received

no complaints concerning N & S’s operations during the term of the

existing variance. The Board finds that the benefits from M & S’s

recycling operation outweigh any slight environmental damage

resulting from the grant of this variance and that, therefore

denial of the requested variance would impose an arbitrary and

unreasonable hardship upon Petitioner. Moreover, the Board adopts

the Agency’s recommendation that the variance from Rule 502(a)

be granted for a five-year period.

This Opinion constitutes the findings of fact and conclusions

of law of the Board in this matter.

ORDER

It is the Order of the Pollution Control Board that Peti-

tioner N & S Wood and Paper Corporation be and is hereby granted

variance from Rule 502(a) of Chapter 2 until July 1, 1981, in

order to burn clean, unpainted and untreated wood wastes in an

air curtain destructor, subject to the following conditions:

1.  Petitioner shall maintain the housekeeping at its

facility so as to eliminate possibility of fires caused

by sparks igniting litter and nearby waste materials.

2.  An operator must be in attendance at all times when

wood waste is being burned.

3.  The feed to the air curtain destructor shall be adjusted

so as to prevent any visible emissions from the destructor

above 10 opacity.

4.  Material used to promote combustion shall not be lower

in quality than #2 fuel oil.

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5.  Burning shall be conducted only on days when the wind

velocity is between 8 and 40 kilometers per hour.

6.  Burning shall be conducted only between the hours of

8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.

7.  The burning site shall be provided with adequate fire

protection and with such equipment as necessary to

control accidental fires.

8.  The air curtain destructor shall be operated in accordance

with the manufacturer’s operating instructions.

9.  Within 35 days of this Order, Petitioner shall execute

and forward to the

Control program Coordinator

Division of Air Pollution Control

220 Churchill Road

Springfield, Illinois 62706

a Certification of Acceptance and agreement to be bound

to all terms and conditions of the variance. The form

of said Certification shall be as follows:

CERTIFICATION

I (We), ___________________________________ having read and

fully understanding the Order of the Illinois Pollution

Control Board in PCB 76-164 hereby accept said Order and

agree to be bound by all the terms and conditions thereof.

Signed by

Title

Date

IT IS SO ORDERED.

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I, Christan L. Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control

Board, hereby certify the above Opinion and Order were adopted on the

day of August, 1976 by a vote of ______________________

hristan L.

Illinois Pollution Coil Board

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