THE UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

REGION 5

Date: November 20, 2007

From: Jae Lee, Permit Writer

Christopher Lambesis, Environmental Scientist

Todd Ramaly, Environmental Scientist

Land and Chemicals Division

To: File

Subject: Mercury Feed Rate Limit for Veolia ES Technical Solutions, L.L.C.

Incinerators in Sauget, Illinois

I. Background

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) recommends that the 

Veolia facility in Sauget, Illinois not exceed a total annual feed rate limit of 3.63 

kilograms (kg) of mercury to any combination of the three incinerator units. The purpose 

of this memorandum is to explain the basis for this recommendation for the 

administrative record. 

U.S. EPA has promulgated the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants 

from Hazardous Waste Combustors.

1

 40 C.F.R. Part 63, Subpart EEE. This regulation 

sets hazardous waste combustor Maximum Achievable Control Technology (HWCMACT) standards for emissions of mercury and other pollutants. 40 C.F.R. § 63.1203(a); 

40 C.F.R. § 63.1219(a). If a site-specific risk assessment demonstrates that operation in 

accordance with the HWC-MACT standard is not protective of human health and the 

environment, permitting authorities may require additional conditions in the RCRA 

permit.

2

 

1 For existing owners of hazardous waste incinerators, the RCRA Subpart O regulations for incinerators 

generally no longer apply once the facility demonstrates compliance with the MACT. 40 C.F.R. §

264.340(b).

2 U.S. EPA, Office of Solid Waste, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Site-Specific Risk Assessment 

Policy for Hazardous Waste Combustion Facilities , at 3 (July 1999), 

http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/hazwaste/combust/toolkit/ssrapofs.pdf ; 40 C.F.R. § 270.32(b).
2

In May 2007, U.S. EPA completed a site-specific risk assessment (Veolia Risk Report) 

for the Veolia facility in Sauget, Illinois.3 In the Veolia Risk Report, U.S. EPA assessed 

site-specific risks associated with compliance with the HWC-MACT standard consistent 

with agency guidance. The Veolia Risk Report concluded that emissions from the 

facility at the HWC-MACT emission standard for mercury would create an unacceptable 

risk to human health. Therefore, risk-based limits on the emission of mercury from the 

Veolia facility are necessary in addition to the HWC-MACT standard in order to protect 

human health.

II. HWC-MACT Emission Standard

The HWC-MACT mercury emission standard for existing hazardous waste incinerator

units is 130 micrograms per dry standard cubic meter (ug/dscm) corrected to 7 percent

oxygen. 40 C.F.R. § 63.1203(a); 40 C.F.R. § 63.1219(a). At the Veolia facility, this stack 

gas concentration would be expected to result the following mass rate of mercury

emissions:

Incinerator Unit # Mass Rate 

 

 Unit #2 0.843 grams per hour (g/hr)

 Unit #3 0.825 g/hr

 Unit #4 2.30 g/hr

Attachment A of the Veolia Risk Report explains in detail how the HWC-MACT 

emission standard was converted to the stack-specific mass emission rate. 

(2) Risk Assessment

The Veolia Risk Report indicates that the Hazard Quotients (HQ) for the emission of 

mercury at the HWC-MACT emission standard from each incinerator unit at the Veolia 

facility are as follows:

 Incinerator Unit # Hazard Quotient 

 

 Unit #2 0.504

 Unit #3 0.497

 Unit #4 1.24

 

3 U.S. EPA – Region 5, Risk Screening and Risk Management Recommendations for: Veolia ES Technical 

Solutions, L.L.C., Sauget, Illinois (Formerly: “Onyx Environmental Services”) (May 2007). In November 

2007, U.S. EPA prepared an addendum to the Veolia Risk Report that explains the how U.S. EPA 

calculated the conversion of expected emissions of inorganic mercury from the Veolia incinerator stacks to 

methylmercury for purposes of assessing potential human health risks. U.S EPA – Region 5, Addendum, 

Risk Screening and Risk Management Recommendations for: Veolia ES Technical Solutions, L.L.C. Sauget, 

Illinois: Explanation of Mercury Speciation, Dispersion and Methylation (November 2007).
3

Since the above risk results are derived from a fish consumption scenario from the lakes 

located at Frank Holten State Park and these lakes are interconnected in term of fish 

mobility and a human consumption perspective, the HQ from each incinerator is additive. 

The total HQ from Veolia facility is 2.24, which is 8.96 times higher than the benchmark

HQ of 0.25. 

Based on above mass rate and resultant HQ per unit, the HQ per g/hr mercury emission 

rate per unit can be calculated. For example, for unit #2, since the resultant HQ was 

0.504 from a mercury emission rate of 0.843 g/hr, the HQ per g/hr emission rate of 

mercury for unit #2 is 0.5978647 (i.e., 0.504 / 0.843). (It should be noted that the 

relationship between the emission rate of mercury and the resultant HQ value per unit is 

linear.) The results for this calculation for the HQ per g/hr emission rate for each unit are

as follows:

Incinerator Unit # HQ per g/hr Emission Rate 

 

 Unit #2 0.5978647

 Unit #3 0.6024242

 Unit #4 0.5391304

III. Risk-Based Limits on Mercury

Since the resultant HQ from emissions at the HWC-MACT standard for mercury may

pose an unacceptable risk to human health, there is a need to set an additional risk-based 

limit for mercury emission from the hazardous waste incinerators at the Veolia facility. 

If Veolia limited operation to only one incinerator unit, then the following annual 

mercury feed rate per unit would create a hazard quotient less than the 0.25 benchmark:

 

 Unit 2 only: 3.66 kg per year (0.25/0.5978647)*(365*24)/1000

 Unit 3 only: 3.63 kg per year (0.25/0.6024242)*(365*24)/1000

 Unit 4 only: 4.06 kg per year (0.25/0.5391304)*(365*24)/1000

In order to determine the annual feed rate limit per unit that would be below a hazard 

quotient of 0.25, the following equation is utilized:

 MAF*(1-SRE)*(HIPEM)*(1/8760) = 0.25 

MAF = Annual feed rate limit of mercury at each incinerator (grams per year);

SRE = System removal efficiency for mercury for each incinerator;

HIPEM = HQ value per g/hr mercury emission rate at each incinerator; 

8760 = Unit conversion factor from one year to hours; and
4

0.25 = Acceptable HQ risk value

These limits are calculated based on the assumption of a zero system removal efficiency

of mercury at each incinerator unit. In other words, for purposes of this calculation, U.S. 

EPA assumes that any mercury fed into the incinerator would be emitted to the 

atmosphere. This assumption is based on the absence of reliable test data to determine an 

actual removal efficiency for mercury at each incinerator unit. 

Therefore, based on above calculations, U.S. EPA recommends that the total annual 

mercury feed rate limit for any combination of the three incinerator units should not 

exceed 3.63 kg. This limit will ensure that no matter which incinerator is operated, the 

hazard quotient that results from the emission of mercury from the Veolia facility will be 

equal to or below the benchmark HQ value of 0.25. We recommend that Illinois EPA

incorporate the mercury feed rate limit as a new permit condition. We are providing 

Illinois EPA with proposed permit language in section V. of this memorandum, below 

(RCRA permit Condition 9, Mercury Annual Feed Rate Limit). 

IV. Conditions for Demonstrating Compliance with Mercury Annual Feed Rate Limit

U.S. EPA also recommends that the Veolia facility RCRA permit contain additional 

conditions to improve the demonstration of compliance with the mercury emissions limit. 

Specifically, permit Conditions 10 through 13 were added to ensure the accounting of the 

mercury content of all materials fed to the incinerators. These permit conditions are 

based on U.S. EPA guidance recommendations for incinerator waste analysis 

procedures.4

Condition 10, Special Mercury Procedures, contains provisions for the collection of 

mercury content information for all incinerator feeds. In order to ensure that tracking the 

feed rate of mercury will result in compliance with the allowable mercury emission rate, 

all incinerator feed streams must be evaluated for mercury content using chemical 

analysis. A hierarchy of the types and quality of sampling data acceptable for this 

purpose, i.e., pre-acceptance screening, waste acceptance, batch sampling, and fuel, is 

defined in items (i) through (iv) of Condition 10. Item (v) of Condition 10 requires 

adequate recordkeeping for the mercury determination. Item (vi) of Condition 10 

describes the approach to choosing a mercury concentration from several types of data to 

be used in the calculation for compliance. Item (vii) of Condition 10 describes the 

acceptable exemptions to the sampling requirement while still requiring that sufficient 

information regarding mercury content can be ascertained and shown. Item (viii) of 

Condition 10 explains that these RCRA permit conditions supersede any requirements of 

the facility’s Waste Analysis Plan that could be interpreted to be in conflict with them.

 

4 Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, U.S. EPA, Waste Analysis at Facilities that Generate, 

Treat, Store and Dispose of Hazardous Wastes, OSWER 9938.4-03 (April 1994), 

http://www.epa.gov/Compliance/resources/policies/civil/rcra/wasteanalygman-rpt.pdf, pp. 4-45 – 4-47.
5

Condition 11, Demonstration of Compliance with Mercury Annual Feed Rate Limit, is 

recommended to ensure that all the remaining information needed to verify compliance 

with the annual limit (such as the mass of a particular wastestream burned) is collected 

and documented. Conditions 12, and 13 ensure retention of records documenting 

compliance and the availability of the records for inspection.

V. Proposed Permit Language to Implement Mercury Annual Feed Rate Limit 

Protective of Human Health

U.S. EPA recommends the following permit language:

9. Mercury Annual Feed Rate Limit. The Permittee shall not feed more than a total of 

3.63 kilograms (kg) of mercury per year to any combination of the three incinerator units. 

The Permittee shall not feed mercury or mercury-containing materials, including 

hazardous waste, solid waste, fuels, and any other feedstreams into the incinerators at a 

rate that will result in an exceedance of the mercury annual feed rate set forth in this 

paragraph. For purposes of the mercury annual feed rate limit, the first year shall begin 

on the effective date of this permit and each year thereafter shall begin on the anniversary

of the effective date of the permit.

10. Special Mercury Procedures. The Permittee shall implement the following special 

mercury procedures beginning on the effective date of this permit:

(i) Pre-acceptance screening procedure. The Permittee shall screen all waste for mercury

prior to acceptance for incineration at the facility. The Permittee shall obtain, prior to the 

shipment of waste to the facility, a representative sample of the waste for mercury

analysis by the Permittee using appropriate quality assurance/quality control procedures 

and an appropriate test method that are consistent with the “Test Methods for Evaluating 

Solid Waste, Physical/Chemical Methods” (SW-846). The Permittee shall follow this 

pre-acceptance screening sampling and analysis procedure at least twice a year for each 

waste stream using appropriate quality assurance/quality control procedures and an 

appropriate test method that are consistent with SW-846. If the sampling analysis 

indicates that the concentration of mercury in the waste is such that the mercury annual 

feed rate limit in condition IV(A)(9) would be exceeded, the Permittee shall not accept 

such waste for incineration at the facility.

(ii)Waste acceptance procedure. The Permittee shall conduct representative sampling of 

each shipment of waste for mercury within 24 hours of receipt and shall analyze such 

samples using appropriate quality assurance/quality control procedures and an 

appropriate test method that are consistent with SW-846. If the sampling analysis 

indicates that the concentration of mercury in the waste shipment is such that the mercury

annual feed rate limit in condition IV(A)(9) would be exceeded, the Permittee shall not 

accept such waste for incineration at the facility.

(iii)Batch sampling procedure. If waste accepted for incineration is batched, treated, 

blended, mixed, or otherwise altered from its shipped state, the Permittee shall sample 
6

and analyze such batched, treated, blended, mixed, or otherwise altered waste for 

mercury prior to incineration using appropriate quality assurance/quality control 

procedures and an appropriate test method that are consistent with SW-846. If the 

sampling analysis indicates that the concentration of mercury in the waste is such that the 

total annual feed rate limit for mercury in condition IV(A)(9) would be exceeded, the 

Permittee shall not incinerate such waste at the facility.

(iv) Fuel procedure. The Permittee shall document the concentration of mercury in any 

fuel, including natural gas, used oil, diesel, and alternative fuels, but not including 

hazardous waste, fed into the incinerators by either (1) obtaining analytical results from 

each fuel supplier or (2) conducting representative sampling of each fuel supply and 

analyzing such samples using appropriate quality assurance/quality control procedures 

and appropriate test methods. The Permittee shall follow this procedure at least once per 

year for each fuel supply. If the sampling analysis indicates that the concentration of 

mercury in the fuel is such that the total annual feed rate limit for mercury in condition 

IV(A)(9) would be exceeded, the Permittee shall not feed such fuel to the incinerators.

(v) Special mercury procedure recordkeeping. The Permittee shall document compliance 

with the Special Mercury Procedures set forth in condition IV(A)(10). Such 

documentation shall include, but is not limited to, pre-acceptance waste screening 

determinations, waste acceptance determinations, sampling logs, analysis logs, sampling 

results, and quality assurance/quality control documentation. Permittee shall maintain 

such records for seven calendar years and make them available at all times for inspection 

by U.S. EPA, Illinois EPA, local agencies, or their duly authorized representatives. 

(vi) Determination of mercury concentration for mercury annual feed rate calculation. 

The Permittee shall use the concentration of mercury as set forth below in order to 

calculate the mass of mercury for each waste or fuel fed to each incinerator unit 

consistent with condition IV(A)(11):

(1) if waste is batch fed to an incinerator unit, the mercury concentration for annual feedrate limit calculation shall be:

(a) the result of the batch sampling analysis required by condition (A)(10)(iii); or 

(b) the estimated quantitation limit (EQL), defined as the lowest non-zero concentration 

of mercury in a 5-point linear calibration study multiplied by the appropriate extraction 

and dilution factors, if mercury is not detected at or above the EQL in the batch sampling 

analysis required by condition IV(A)(10)(iii). 

(2) if batch sampling is not required, the mercury concentration for annual feed-rate limit 

calculation shall be:

(a) the highest concentration of mercury detected at or above the EQL from the sampling 

analyses required for by conditions IV(A)(10)(i) and (ii), or condition IV(A)(10)(iv) for 

fuels; or

(b) the highest EQL from the sampling analyses required by conditions IV(A)(10)(i) and 

(ii), or condition IV(A)(10)(iv) for fuels, if mercury is not detected at or above the EQL 

in any of the sampling analyses required by conditions IV(A)(10)(i) and (ii), or condition 

IV(A)(10)(iv) for fuels, and there is acceptable knowledge that mercury could be present 

in the waste or fuel; or

(c) one-half of the highest EQL from the sampling analyses required by conditions 

IV(A)(10)(i) and (ii), or condition IV(A)(10)(iv) for fuels, if mercury is not detected at or 

above the EQL in either of the sampling analyses required by conditions IV(A)(10)(i) and 
7

(ii), or condition IV(A)(10)(iv) for fuels, and there is acceptable knowledge that that 

mercury is not present in the waste. 

(vii) Exemptions to the special mercury procedures. The following wastes that the 

Permittee determines do not contain mercury consistent with this condition 

IV(A)(10)(vii) shall be exempt from the Special Mercury Procedures set forth in 

conditions IV(A)(10)(i) through (vi):

(1) Packaged chemicals from laboratories, hospitals, household clean sweeps, or 

manufacturing facilities, including scintillation vials packed in accordance with Small 

Quantity Chemical Guidelines (SQCG's). For packaged chemicals, the Permittee shall 

obtain a packing list for each container from the generator specifying type and quantity of 

chemicals contained within;

(2) Empty containers as defined in 35 IAC 721.107(b);

(3) Pharmaceutical and commercial products or chemicals that are off-specification or 

outdated and are packaged in consumer quantities, are unused or banned, and are in their 

original packaging or are packaged as specified by the Permittee;

(4) Aerosol cans, lecture bottles or gas cylinders;

(5) Controlled substances regulated by the Federal Government; and

(6) Explosive, poison inhalation hazard (PIH), or odiferous material, such as mercaptan, 

which present sampling, and analytical safety hazards.

The Permittee shall review any container labels, material safety data sheets, drum 

inventories, packing lists, and any other relevant data or information provided by the 

generator to determine whether mercury is present in any waste listed above that may be 

exempt. Only those wastes listed above that the Permittee determines in writing contain 

no mercury based on such review are exempt from the Special Mercury Procedures set 

forth in conditions IV(A)(1)(i) through (vi). The Permittee’s written determination of 

exemption from the Special Mercury Procedures shall describe the information reviewed 

and the basis for the determination that no mercury is present. Any waste listed above for 

which there is insufficient information to allow the Permittee to make a reasonable 

determination that mercury is not present shall not be exempt. The Permittee shall

maintain any written determination of exemption at the facility for seven calendar years 

and make it available at all times for to U.S. EPA, the Illinois EPA, local agencies, or 

their duly authorized representatives for inspection.

(viii) Condition IV(A)(10) shall supercede any conflicting or less stringent provision in 

the Permittees’s waste analysis plan.

11. Demonstration of Compliance with Mercury Annual Feed Rate Limit. Permittee 

shall prepare and maintain a mercury feed rate log that demonstrates compliance with the 

mercury annual feed rate limit set forth in condition IV(A)(9). All incinerator feed 

streams, including, but not limited to, liquid feeds, direct transfer, solid waste lines, drum 

and bulk solid feeds, fuels, and any other feed stream, utilized by the Permittee to feed 

waste or other material into the primary and secondary combustion chambers of any of 

the three incinerator units, shall be included in calculating the total mass of mercury for 

purposes of demonstrating compliance with the mercury annual feed rate limit set forth in 

condition IV(A)(9). The mercury feed rate log shall include, but is not limited to, the 

following:
8

(i) a description of the types of waste (i.e., liquid, solid, semi-solid, or container, etc.) and 

fuels fed into each incinerator unit each day; 

(ii) the corresponding mass of each type of waste and fuel fed to each incinerator unit 

each day;

(iii) the corresponding concentration of mercury in each type of waste and fuel fed to 

each incinerator unit each day based on the applicable sampling results as set forth in 

condition IV(A)(10)(vi), Determination of Mercury Concentration for Mercury Annual 

Feed Rate, above; 

(iv) the sample identification number that corresponds to the mercury concentration used; 

(v) the total mass of mercury in each waste type and fuel fed to each incinerator unit each 

day; 

(vi) the total mass of mercury in all waste and fuel fed to each incinerator unit each day;

(vii) the total mass of mercury in any other material fed to each incinerator unit each day 

based on representative sampling or other acceptable knowledge; 

(viii) the total mass of mercury fed to all three incinerator units combined each day; 

(ix) a daily running total for the year of the mass in kilograms of mercury fed to all three 

incinerator units combined beginning on the effective date of this permit for the first year 

and for each year thereafter beginning on the anniversary of the effective date of this 

permit; and 

(x) on each anniversary of the effective date of this permit, the total mass in kilograms of 

mercury fed to all three incinerators combined for the preceding year. 

12. The Permittee shall maintain the mercury feed rate log at the facility and make it 

available at all times for to U.S. EPA, the Illinois EPA, local agencies, or their duly

authorized representatives for inspection. 

13. The Permittee shall maintain a record at the facility of the feed data and any other 

information upon which the mercury feed rate log is based and such record must be 

available at all times for U.S. EPA, the Illinois EPA, local agencies, or their duly

authorized representatives for inspection.