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No New Incinerator

Because the old incinerator closed deep in debt, the mayor thinks it's a good idea to build a new incinerator (on the same spot) in the hopes that it will be profitable enough to both pay for itself AND pay off the old incinerator's debt.

The Harrisburg Authority expects to get revenue from:

Dauphin County passed a waste flow control rule to force waste collected in the county to go to the incinerator. That move is being appealed by the Pennsylvania Waste Industries Association. Some other flow control efforts in other places have been declared unconstitutional.

Neither the Cumberland nor Perry County agreements actually guarantee that any waste will come to the incinerator. The current Perry County agreement expires before the incinerator would start operation.

Spot market waste can include residual waste (sewage sludge, construction & demolition wastes, tires, pharmaceuticals and other industrial wastes). They could get higher tipping fees for residual wastes, so we would expect them to try to maximize those.

Electricity would be sold to PP&L. The Authority believes that it can sell electricity for 6 cents (above market rate) as "renewable" even though the organization that certifies green electricity does NOT define incinerators as renewable sources of electricity.

Steam would be sold to NRG (the oil & gas plant near the Partiot-News building) but only at NRG's discretion.

Permitted Air Pollution

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has approved an air permit that will allow the proposed incinerator to put the following pollution into the air. The health effects listed are mostly gleaned from the "chronic exposure" sections of New Jersey Chemical Factsheets.

Pollutanttons / yearlbs / dayHealth Problems caused or made worse (not a complete list!)
Nitrogen Oxides (Nox)250 1,369.86 Lung irritation, worsens asthma
Carbon Monoxide (CO)141.8 776.99 Aggravates heart problems
Particulate Matter
10 microns or smaller (PM10)		32.7 179.18 Increased attacks in asthmatic children, increased deaths in elderly
Sulphur Dioxide (SO2)116.7 639.45 Lung irritation, worsens asthma
Hydrochloric Acid (HCl)54 295.89 Lung irritation, worsens asthma
Arsenic0.01 0.055 Cancer; May damage fetus
Beryllium0.0003 0.0016 Cancer (lung & bone)
Lead0.27 1.48 Reproductive problems; Memory & behaviour problems, Nerve damage
Mercury0.13 0.71 Nerve toxin; Reproductive problems
Cadmium0.027 0.148 Cancer (kidney); Reproductive problems; Kidney & liver damage
Chromium VI0.003 0.016 Cancer (lung & throat); Reproductive problems; Asthma
Nickel0.03 0.16 Possible cancer (lung); Asthma
Dioxins0.000018 0.00010 Cancer; reproductive problems; birth defects; learning disabilities
TOTALS 596 3,265.28  

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