UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENC Y 

REGION 5 

77 WEST JACKSO N BOULEVARD 

CHICAGO, IL 60604-3590 

mi 2 6 2013 

REPL Y TO TH E ATTENTION OF : 

Douglas Harris, General Manager 

Veolia ES Technical Solutions, LLC 

7 Mobile Avenue 

Sauget, Illinois 62201 

Re: Veolia ES Technical Solutions, LLC's Comprehensive Performance Test Plans for 

Incinerators 2, 3, and 4 

Dear Mr. Harris: 

The Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. § 7401 etseq. and the National Emission Standards for Hazardous 

Air Pollutants from Hazardous Waste Combustors, 40 C.F.R. Part 63, Subpart EEE (HWC 

MACT) require Veolia ES Technical Solutions, LLC (Veolia) to perform a comprehensive 

performance test (CPT) on or before September 5, 2013. I will not recap here the long history of 

communication between Veolia and the United States Environmental Protection Agency 

regarding the requirements of the HWC MACT in general and the CPT in particular. I 

understand now that, with the exception of two outstanding issues, as of July 19, 2013 Veolia 

and EP A have agreed to all provisions of the CPT and pertinent standard operating procedures. 

Accordingly, EPA stands ready to approve the CPT with the following understandings: 

1. Nature of the Waste to be Burned during the CPT. 

40 C.F.R. § 63.1207(g) and 40 C.F.R. § 63.7(e)(1) require Veolia to conduct performance testing 

at the extreme range of "representative operating conditions." Such conditions necessarily 

include the incineration of wastes representative of the type incinerated by Veolia on a regular 

basis. Veolia has proposed to incinerate liquid and solid wastes during the CPT which have 

never been previously incinerated at the facility and for which Veolia has no sampling data. The 

CPT must include, therefore: 

a. a condition requiring Veolia to provide to EPA, no later than 30 days prior to the 

CPT, a hazardous waste profile for each liquid or solid waste Veolia intends to burn 

during the CPT. Veolia may not make any changes to the waste it will incinerate 

during the CPT after providing EPA with the waste profiles; 

b. a condition requiring sampling and analysis of each solid and liquid waste used 

during the test every 15 minutes; 

c. a condition requiring Veolia to archive a sufficient portion of each 15 minute sample 

. to allow further analysis; and 

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d. a condition requiring Veolia to provide to EPA, no later than 5 days after receipt by 

Veolia, a copy of any analytical results performed on any liquid or solid waste used 

by Veolia during the CPT. 

Please be advised that EPA will send to Veolia under separate cover a request for information 

concerning the nature of the wastes incinerated at the facility on a regular basis. With this 

information in hand, EPA will be in a position to detennine whether the wastes, burned during 

the CPT were indeed representative of normal conditions. 

2. Test Conditions. 

EPA had previously communicated to Veolia that maximum temperature must be a parameter of 

Condition 1 of the CPT. For purposes of this CPT only, EPA will allow, normal temperature on 

Incinerators 2, 3 and 4.to be a parameter of Condition 1 on Incinerators 2, 3, and 4. Condition 2 

of the CPT remains, at minimum temperature. See Attachment 1. 

As stated above, 40 C.F.R. § 63.1207(g), requires Veolia to conduct performance testing under 

operating conditions representative of the extreme range of normal conditions. "Normal 

conditions" at Veolia's facility include contemporaneously burning wastes that contain mercury 

(Hg) and wastes that contain components that lead to dioxin/furan (D/F) formation. Therefore, 

during the CPT, Veolia must operate the incinerator at normal and minimum temperatures with 

wastes and/or spike material containing both Hg and components that lead to D/F formation to 

represent extreme range of normal conditions. 

3. Operating Modes. 

Veolia generally objects to having to perform the CPT under the two different operating 

conditions specified by EPA. 40 C.F.R. § 63.1207(f)(l)(xxvii) provides EPA with the authority 

to require "other information as the Administrator reasonably finds necessary to determine 

whether to approve the performance test plan." 

The two test conditions required by EPA for Veolia's CPT are eminently reasonable. The CPT 

is the vehicle by which Veolia demonstrates that it is in compliance With the HWC MACT 

operating parameter limits during normal operating times. See 40 C.F.R. § 63.1207(b)(1). The 

HWC MAC T recognizes that "given that [a hazardous waste incinerator] must establish limits 

for the applicable operating parameters specified in § 63.1209 based on operations during the 

comprehensive performance test," a facility "may conduct testing under two or more operating 

modes to provide operating flexibility." 40 C.F.R. § 63.1207(g)(1)(h). EPA believes that Veolia 

cannot guarantee that it does not and never will contemporaneously incinerate waste containing 

both Hg and components that lead to D/F formation. The emission of Hg and D/F may be 

affected by temperature. Accordingly, both conditions of the CPT as developed by EPA are 

necessary to demonstrate that Veolia is in compliance with the HWC MACT operating 

parameter limits. (Attachment 1.) 

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Finally, you should be aware that EPA does not intend to grant any additional extension of the 

date for the CPT. Veolia's email of July 19, 2013 included irrelevant arguments regarding 

permitting procedures and EPA's authority. EPA is concerned that these objections are simply 

pretexts for delaying implementation of the CPT. EPA believes that Veolia's recalcitrance may 

well be due to Veolia's fundamental misunderstanding of when the CPT was due. EPA hopes 

that with the clarifications of the requirements of the CPT contained in this letter, the CPT can 

now proceed in accordance with the Clean Air Act's requirements. 

If you have any questions regarding this response, please contact Shannon Downey of my staff at 

(312) 353-2151. 

Air Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Branch 

Enclosure 

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