**THE UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY REGION 5** 
Date: November 20 , 2007
From: Jae L ee, Permit Writer

Christopher Lambesis, Environmental Scientist Todd Ramaly , Environmental Scientist Land and Chemicals Division
To: File Subject: M ercury

Feed Rate Limit for Veolia ES Technical Solutions, L .L .C. In cinerators in Sauget, Illinois
I. Background The United States Environmental Protection Agency ( U.S. EPA ) recommends that the Veolia facility

in Sauget, I llinois not exceed a total annual fe ed rate limit of 3.63 kilograms (kg) of mercury to an y combination of the three incinerator units. The purpose of this memo randum is to e xplain the basis for th is recommendation for the administrative record

. U.S. EPA has promulgated the National Emissi on Standards for Hazardous Air P ollutants from H azardous Waste Combustors

. 1 40 C.F.R. Part 63, Subpart EEE. This regulation sets hazardous waste combustor Maximum Achievable Control Technology ( HWC

MACT) standards for emissions of mercury and other pollu tants. 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 environ m ent, permitting authorities may require addit iona l conditions in the RCRA permit

. 2

1 For existing owners of hazardous w aste incinerators, the RCRA Subpart O regulations for incinerators generally no longer apply once the facility demonstrates com pliance with the M ACT. 40 C.F.R. § 264.340(b).

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

- Specific Risk Asse s sment P olicy 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 facilit y in Sauget, Illinois. 3 Inthe Veolia Risk Report, U.S. EPA assessed site

- specific risks associated with co mpliance 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. Ther efore, risk

- based l imits 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 oxy gen
. 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 : In cinerator 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 R isk R eport 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 H azard Q uotients (HQ) for the emission of mercury at the HWC

- MACT emission standard from each incinerator unit at the Veolia facility are as follows : In cinerator 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 Rep ort 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 Screeni ng 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 ris k results are derived from a fish consumption scenar io from the lakes located at Frank Holten State P ark and these lakes are interconnected in term of fish mobility and a human consumption per spective, the HQ from each incinerator is additive. The total H Q from Veolia facilit y 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 resultan t 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 p er unit is linear.) The results for this calculation for the HQ per g/hr emission rate for each unit are as follows :

In cinerator Unit # HQ per g/hr Emission Rate Unit #2 0.5 978647 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

- base d limit for mercury

emission from the hazardous waste incinerators at the Veolia facility

. I f Veolia limited operation to onl y one incinerator unit, then the following annual mercury feed rate per unit would create a hazard quotient less than the 0.25 benchmark : U nit 2 only : 3.66 kg per y ear (0.25/0.5978647 )*( 365 * 24 )/ 1000 U nit 3 only : 3.63 kg per year (0.25/0.60 24242 )*( 365 * 24 )/ 1000 U nit 4 only : 4.06 kg per y ear (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) * ( HI PEM) * (1/8760) = 0.25
MAF = A nnual feed rate limit of m ercury at each incinerator (grams per ye ar) ; SRE = S ys tem removal efficiency for mercury

for each incinerator ; HI PEM = H Q value per g/hr mercury emission rate at each incinerator;
8760 = U nit conversio n factor from one y ear to hours ; and4 0.25 = Acceptable HQ risk value These limits are calculated based on the assumption of a zero sy stem removal efficiency of mercury

at each incinerator unit. In other words, for purposes of this calculat ion, U.S. EPA assumes that an y 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 e fficiency for mercury at each incinerator unit. Therefore, based on above calculations, U.S. EPA recommends that the total annual mercury feed rate limit for an y 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 Illino is EPA with proposed permit language in section V. of this memorandum, below (RCRA permit C ondition 9, Mercury Annual Feed Rate Limit).
IV

. Conditions for Demonstrating Compliance with Mercury Annual Feed Rate L imit
U.S. EPA also recommends that the Ve olia facility RCRA p ermit contain additional conditions to improve the demonstration of compliance with the mercury emissions limit. Speci ficall y, permit C onditions 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 analy sis procedures. 4 Condition 10, Special Mercury Procedures, contains provisions for the collection of mercury content information fo r 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 anal ys is . A hierarchy of the ty pes 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 C ondition 10 . Item (v) of Condition 10 requires adequate recordkeep ing for the mercury determination. It em (vi ) of Condition 10 describes the approach to choosing a mercury concentration from several ty pes of data to be used in the calculation for compliance. Item (vii) of Condition 10 describes the acceptable exemption s 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 an y requirements of the facility ’s Was te Analy sis 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 F acilities that Generate, Treat, Store and Dispose of Hazardous Wastes , OSWER 9938.4

- 03 (April 1994), http://www.epa.gov/Compliance/resources/policies/civil/r cra/w asteanalygman

- 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. Condition s 12, and 13 ensure retention of records documenting compliance and the availability of the records for inspection.

V. Proposed Permit L anguage to Implement Mercury Annual Feed Rate Limit Protective of Human Health U.S. EPA recommends the following permit language:
9. Mercury

Annual Feed Rate L imit . The Permittee shall not feed more than a total of 3.63 kilograms (kg) of mercury per y ear to an y combinati on of the three incinerator units. The Permittee shall not feed mercury or mercury - containing materials, including hazardous waste, solid waste, fuels, and an y other feedstreams into the incinerators at a rate that will result in an exceedance of the merc ury annual feed rate set forth in this paragraph. For purposes of the mercury annual feed rate limit, the first y ear shall begin on the effective date of this permit and each ye ar thereafter shall begin on the anniversary of the effective date of the perm it.
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 anal ys is by

the Permittee using appropriate quality assurance/quality

control proced

ures and an appropriate test method that are consistent with the “Test Methods for Evaluating Solid Waste, Phy sical/Chemical Methods” (SW

- 846). The Permittee shall follow this pre - acceptance screening sampling and anal ys is 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. I f the sampling anal ys is 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 facilit y. (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. I f the sampling anal ys is indicates that the concentration of m ercury 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 sample6

and anal yz e such batched, treated, blended, mixed, or otherwise altered waste for mercury prior to incineration using appropriate quality ass urance/quality

control procedures and an appropriate test method that are consistent with SW

- 846. If the sampling anal ys is 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 an y fuel, including natural gas, used oil, diesel, and alternative fuels, but not incl uding hazardous waste, fed into the incinerators b y either (1) obtaining anal yt ical results from each fuel supplier or (2) conducting representative sampling of each fuel supply and anal yz ing such samples using appropriate qualit y assurance/qualit y control procedures and appropriate test methods. The Permittee shall follow this procedure at least once per ye ar for each fuel supply . If the sampling anal ys is indicates that the concentration of mercury in the fuel is such that the total annual feed rate limi t for mercury in condition IV (A)(9) would be exceeded, the Permittee shall not feed such fuel to the incinerators. (v) Special m ercury p rocedure r ecordkeeping. The Permittee shall document compliance with the Special Mercury Procedures set forth in condi tion I V(A)(10). Such documentation shall include, but is not limited to, pre

- acceptance waste screening determinations, waste acceptance determinations, sampling logs, anal ys is logs, sampling results, and quality

assurance/qualit y control documentation. Permittee shall maintain such records for seven calendar ye ars 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 co ncentration for m ercury annual f eed r ate c alculation

. 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 feed

rate limit calculation shall be: (a) the result of the batch sampling anal ys is 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 anal ys is required by

condition I V(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 anal ys es required for b y conditions I V(A)(10)(i) and (ii) , or condition IV(A)(10)(iv) for fuels; or (b) the highest EQL from the sampling analy ses 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 analy ses required by conditions I V(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 EQLfrom the sampling anal ys es required b y conditions IV (A )(10)(i) and (ii), or condition I V(A)(10)(iv) for fuels, if mercury is not detected at or above the EQL in either of the sampling anal ys es required b y conditions IV(A)(10)(i) and7

(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 s pecial m ercury p rocedures . 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 Me rcury Procedures set forth in conditions I V(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 Gu idelines (SQCG's). For packaged chemicals, the Permittee shall obtain a packing list for each container from the generator specify ing t ype and quantity of chemicals contained within; (2) Empty

containers as defined in 35 IAC 721.107(b); (3) Pharmaceutica l 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 b y the Permittee; (4) Aerosol cans, lecture bottle s or gas cylinders; (5) Controlled substances regulated b y the Federal Government; and (6) Explosive, poison inhalation hazard (PIH), or odiferous material, such as mercaptan, which present sampling, and anal yt ical safet y haz ards. The Permittee shall revie w an y container labels, material safety data sheets, drum inventories, packing lists, and an y 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 was tes 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. An y 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 y ears and make it available at all times for to U.S. EPA, the I llinois EPA, local agencies, or their duly authorized representatives for inspection. (viii) Condition IV(A)(10) shall supercede an y conflicting or less stringent provision in the Permittees’s waste analy sis plan.

11. Demonstration of Compliance with Mercury Annual Feed Rate Limit . Per mittee 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, sol id waste lines, drum and bulk solid feeds, fuels, and an y other feed stream, utilized by the Permittee to feed waste or other material into the primary and secondary

combustion chambers of an y of the three incinerator units, shall be included in calculatin g 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 t yp e of waste and fuel fed to each incinerator unit each day ; ( iii ) the corresponding concentration of mercury in each t ype 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 identific ation number that corresponds to the mercury concentration used; ( v ) the total mass of mercury in each waste t yp e 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 an y 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 dail y running total for the ye ar 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 y ear and for each ye ar thereafter beginning on the anniversary of the effective date o f 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 ye ar. 12. The Permittee shall maintain the mercury feed rate log at the f

acilit y and make it available at all times for to U.S. EPA, the I llinois 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 I llinois EPA, local agencies, or their duly authorized representatives for inspection.