John Kowalko On RenewOil Energy's DNREC "Incinerator" Permit Application

State Rep. John Kowalko sent this along ~

Secretary Colin O’Mara

DNREC, Office of the Secretary

89 Kings Highway

Dover, DE 19901

Dear Secretary O’Mara,

I am submitting the following comments regarding the proposed “pyrolysis” plant to be located near the City of New Castle. RenewOil Energy has submitted a permit application and engaged in discussion with DNREC to obtain authorization that would allow this plant to be built.

 I am opposed to approval of the permit for a several reasons. My concerns about the adverse environmental and public health consequences that would result from this venture are numerous and should be of prime consideration and grounds for denial.

As a State Representative, who has a particular interest in the policies and intent behind our laws, I am strenuously objecting to the fact that this application attempts to compromise existing law that was enacted to protect the health and safety of Delaware’s population. To distinguish a pyrolysis plant from the banned incinerator plants is an offensive manipulation of the intent of existing Code, which prohibits permit issuance in the proposed location. I urge your Department to reject any effort to use technicalities or parsing of terminology to avoid lawful prohibitions and compromise existing law. The simple fact is that the proposed plant would use the application of high level of heat to break down refuse, resulting in the health and safety hazards that compelled the passage of the 2000 ban.

Serious concerns need to be considered with regard to the legal, environmental, and health implications of placing what is effectively an incinerator in the location being proposed. State law specifically lists the criteria that must be met to allow for the construction of an incinerator. Please consider the following requirements of Title 7, § 6003(c), of the Delaware Code:

(2) No permit may be granted to any incinerator unless:

a. The property on which the incinerator is or would be located is within an area which is zoned for heavy industrial activity and shall be subject to such process rules, regulations or ordinances as the county, municipality or other government entity shall require by law, such as a conditional use, so that conditions may be applied

regarding the health, safety and welfare of the citizens within the jurisdiction; and

b. Every point on the property boundary line of the property on which the incinerator is or would be located is:

1. At least 3 miles from every point on the property boundary line of any residence;

2. At least 3 miles from every point on the property boundary line of any residential community; and

3. At least 3 miles from every point on the property boundary line of any church, school, park, or hospital.

The clear intent of the law is to protect the health, safety, and welfare of Delaware citizens, with a particular concern for our churches, parks, hospitals, and school children. The site currently being proposed by RenewOil Energy for its tire plant does not meet these requirements, and would directly contravene the intent and purposes of the incinerator ban. Indeed, the proposed site is located less than half a mile from several schools and parks.

The proposed permit should not be approved based on a supposed technicality that the plant is not a true incinerator. Although RenewOil Energy describes the proposal as a “pyrolysis” plant, the purpose of the facility will be to use the combustion of vapors after they exit the reactor to produce the heat that initially breaks down the tires and other scrap material. The claim on the application permit that oxygen is not a required component is contradicted by the numerous input and output references to water vapor and carbon dioxide. The application may attempt to separate certain stages of the total process, but the inevitable conclusion is that approval of the permit for this plant would violate both the spirit and the letter of the law.

There is no plausible reason to exempt this plant from the current Code provisions that ban incinerators. I find the attempt to redefine our laws and detrimentally harm the quality of life of the people of New Castle to be distressing, and it will not be accepted by me, my colleagues, or the citizens of Delaware. To quote Representative Johnson, “If it looks like a rat and smells like a rat, then it’s a rat.”

I urge you and your Department to deny the permit application with prejudice.

Respectfully,

  

John Kowalko

State Representative

25^thDistrict

CC:

Honorable Jack Markell, Governor

James Johnson, State Representative

Ali Mirzakhalili, Director of Air Quality

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