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ENVIRONMENT
Many ethanol producers must add new emissions control equipment to their plants and may have to pay fines for polluting the air, EPA announced last week after meeting with 46 midwestern ethanol producers. The gathering came in the wake of the discovery that some plants release larger amounts of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and carbon monoxide than companies have reported (C&EN, May 13, page 6). Federal regulators instructed industry representatives to install emissions controls at any plant that releases VOCs and CO in quantities greater than allowed under the facility's air pollution permit. The agency told businesses planning to build new ethanol plants that they must incorporate emissions control strategies into their designs, according to Thomas V. Skinner, administrator for EPA's regional office in Chicago. EPA has not yet determined whether or how much to fine companies for exceeding their air pollution permits, Skinner adds. For the states in his region--Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin--Skinner estimates that adding emissions controls to existing ethanol plants will cut 7,500 tons of VOCs annually. He says air pollution reduction equipment will also cut by 8,000 tons per year the CO released from ethanol plants in those states. Skinner says EPA's recent focus on air pollution from these plants has no connection to the debate in Congress over whether to triple the amount of ethanol used in gasoline as part of a comprehensive energy bill. Air emissions from industrial facilities are "something we regulate every day of the week," he says. |
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