Opinion ID: 1651891
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: PICs

Text: Appellants next argue that the permits will cause air pollution in that the Pine Bluff Facility will emit products of incomplete combustion (PICs). They complain that the Army has not identified the PICs emitted from the facilities at Johnston Island and Tooele, Utah, and that the Army has no procedure in place to identify them. Absent a determination of their identity and toxicity, if any, Appellants assert that it cannot be determined whether these emissions will cause air pollution. The AHO found that every combustion source will have PICs and that, generally, the same PICs are found in any combustion system. Phil Murphy, an engineer with ADEQ, testified that the emissions that come out of the stack are primarily made up of water, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, oxygen, and PICs. He stated that only one percent of the constituents coming out of the stack are PICs. He stated further that he would expect to find the same types of PICs as those found at the Johnston Island facility. The AHO found that ADEQ deals with PICs by writing permits that minimize their formation through good combustion. For example, one of the conditions to the permits issued for the Pine Bluff Facility requires the permittees to perform a total organic carbon test during the trial burn of the Facility. This method separates a sample into three different portions and analyzes the organic carbon in each, allowing ADEQ to quantify some PICs such as chlorinated dioxins and furans. Based on this evidence, the AHO concluded that the risk assessment considered the risk posed by PICs, and that ADEQ employed this information in drafting the permit conditions addressing PICs. We must affirm this conclusion because Appellants have presented no evidence to the contrary, beyond their bare allegations that the unidentified PICs will cause pollution. In sum, Appellants have failed to meet their burden of showing that the Commission's decision affirming the issuance of the air and hazardous-waste permits is erroneous. Moreover, they have failed to demonstrate that the issuance of the permits for the Facility will cause air pollution, as defined in section 8-4-303(5). To the contrary, the evidence clearly demonstrates that the expected emissions will not be materially injurious to human, plant, or animal life or to property and will not unreasonably interfere with the enjoyment of life or the use of property in the area. Thus, we conclude that the Commission's decision is supported by substantial evidence. As such, we need not decide whether it is arbitrary, because it automatically follows that where substantial evidence is found, a decision cannot be classified as unreasonable or arbitrary. See Enviroclean, 314 Ark. 98, 858 S.W.2d 116; Wright, 311 Ark. 125, 842 S.W.2d 42.