To Beat Adage Incinerator Fight Simpson Now!

Submitted to Shelton Blog by Duff Badgley

Pollution is pollution is killer pollution.

We’ve been fighting Adage incinerator lethal pollution plans since February. Now we have a new weapon to fight that battle—the aggressive plans by Simpson to emit the same toxic stuff from their own biomass incinerator planned for downtown Shelton.

When we fight Simpson, we fight, Adage, too. We show Adage that we refuse to accept their pollution or ANY pollution that attacks our kids, our elderly, our asthmatics—us. Adage and Simpson are working closely together to literally cram their poisons down our throats and into our lungs and bloodstreams.

We resist one, we resist the other. If we ignore one, we tell the other lethal levels of pollution are OK with us.

If we ignore Simpson’s incinerator plans, we also tell Simpson it’s OK to keep poisoning us with highly toxic emissions from its smaller burner operating since 1985. Sure, Simpson and its subsidiary Olympic Plywood Panel are viciously poisoning the air we breathe right now. Ignoring the new, much larger incinerator tells Simpson we accept this poisoning of our kids and ourselves.

Adage is watching us.

Like emissions from Adage, Simpson emissions (per its 8/25/10 application to the Olympic Region Clean Air Agency--ORCAA) would include tons and tons from a familiar list of poisons to assault our lungs and lives:

• Particulate matter (PM). The American Lung Association State of the Air Report-2008: “First and foremost, short-term exposure to particle pollution can kill. Deaths can occur on the very day that particle levels are high.” PM is also associated with asthma, heart disease, and cancer. There is no known safe level of PM.
• Nitrogen oxides (NO_x) and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). NO_x and VOCs are two ingredients of ground-level ozone that causes asthma in children and exacerbates other cardiac and pulmonary disease problems. Simpson’s ORCAA application lists 248.0 annual tons of NO_x projected emissions, just two tons less than the threshold requiring more expensive pollution control equipment and a more costly and time-consuming review process.
• Carbon Monoxide (CO). CO is an odorless, colorless, and toxic gas. Low levels of CO exposure can cause headaches, dizziness, nausea, and disorientation. High levels of CO can kill. Simpson’s ORCAA application lists 248.0 annual tons of CO projected emissions, just two tons less than the threshold requiring more expensive pollution control equipment and a more costly and time-consuming review process.
  
• Sulfur dioxide (SO₂). SO₂ is a moderate to strong irritant and can be lethal. Effects to exposure range from reddening of the throat and constriction of bronchiole tubes (in lungs) to severe airways obstruction (person cannot draw a single breath), hypoxemia (insufficient oxygenation of the blood), pulmonary edema (a life-threatening collection of fluid in the lungs), and death in minutes.
  
• Carbon Dioxide (CO₂). CO₂ exacerbates medical problems caused by other pollutants emitted by biomass incineration. CO₂ also is the primary greenhouse gas (GHG) causing climate change. The Simpson incinerator would emit an estimated 300,000 tons of CO₂ per year, based on Adage public comments about its CO₂ emissions.
  

Oh, yes. The list of what ORCAA calls Simpson’s ‘Hazardous Pollutants’ includes:

• Dichloroethane-12, dichloromethane, dichloropropane-12: These are precursors to dioxin, generally accepted as the most dangerous chemical ever made. “Burning any source of chlorine in the presence of hydrocarbons creates dioxins. Trees are hydrocarbon. Dioxins have profound biologic effects in parts per trillion increasing the risk of endometriosis, polycystic ovary disease, reduced immune competence, increased ear infections in children, hypo and hyper thyroidism and neurological problems. There is no known safe level of dioxins. All levels increase the risk of cancer. The worst impact is on the fetus and newborn.”—William Blackley, MD.
• Chlorine;
• Ammonia;
• Arsenic;
• Benzene;
• Formaldehyde;
• Lead;
• Mercury
• Sulfuric Acid;

BEAT ADAGE by BEATING SIMPSON!!

---by Duff Badgley, No Biomass Burn, September 4, 2010