DNR has issued an air pollution permit to Minergy Corporation, a Milwaukee firm applying for the construction and operation of a $45 million 'glass aggregate manufacturing facility' along the Fox River on the Little Lake Butte des Mort flowage, in the City of Neenah.

This is a very large incinerator, which will burn 1,000 tons of waste sludge per day from 4 different paper mills, virtually all the paper sludge generated in Winnebago County --- from Kimberly-Clark, P.H. Glatfelter, Wisconsin Tissue Mills, & Ponderosa Pulp Products.

Ironically, the pollution is coming full circle. The sludges are created by improvements in wastewater treatment plants at the paper mills --- now the pollution will be released into the air, and ultimately re-contaminate the Fox River, Green Bay, Lake Michigan and other area water bodies.

Other major concerns:

1. Misleading Name

The company misled the citizens of Neenah and concealed the true nature of this incinerator, by calling it something which sounds harmless --- a 'glass aggregate plant.'

They even call incineration 'recycling.' The company claims that the resulting bottom slag generated by the facility can be used as the aggregate gravel in asphalt, sandblasting grit, roofing shingles and landscaping products. But why spend $45 million to create gravel which can be obtained much less expensively from other sources?

DNR should not allow the company to mislead the public. It's clear that the primary purpose of this facility is to reduce the volume of paper mill sludge and reduce it to glass. The definition in state codes is clear: "Incinerator: A processing facility designed and operated for controlled burning of solid wastes primarily to achieve volume and weight reduction or to change waste characterization." [NR 500.03 (60) Wisconsin Admin. Codes - emphasis added]

2. Rushing the Process to Avoid Public Scrutiny

The company was assisted by local and state government in accelerating the normal deliberation process and pushing the project through before Neenah citizens were aware of the true nature of the facility. More than 13 closed negotiation meetings were held between the company and local government officials. A formal contract and lease was signed by the Neenah City Council locking local government into full support for the facility, even before the DNR granted the final permit or certified the environmental assessment. Many serious questions remain unanswered but decisions were already been made.

3. FewEconomic Benefits to the Community

The contract signed by the Neenah City Council gives a 99 year lease to Minergy, in exchange for a few years of special payments to cover city infrastructure costs. Minergy will not pay any property taxes. In the later years of the contract, the city will receive no benefits, only costs. The longterm liability for the city is unclear.

4. Future Economic Growth Hindered

This huge plant will create only a few dozen new jobs, and will eliminate several trucking jobs. Unfortunately, at the same time, it will use up many increments of air pollution allowances for the Neenah area, which could restrict the growth of new industries which would provide many more jobs. With increased population and traffic growth (which also creates air pollution) the city could find its development potential 'capped', just as it is in Racine, Kenosha, and Milwaukee Counties.

6. Odor Could Be a Serious Problem

Minergy claims that odor will not be a problem from their incinerator, but they admit their plant will release 734 tons of sulfur dioxide each year into downtown Neenah. Undoubtedly, many other sulfur compounds will also be emitted and these are often foul smelling. For example: the smell of Kaukauna results from sulfur compounds called 'mercaptans.' Sulfur dioxide and other sulfur compounds also aggravate asthma sufferers --- potentially causing serious asthma attacks, especially in children.

DNR staff admitted to the Neenah City Council that DNR is powerless to stop odor problems once they are created (as at Kaukauna). And the City of Neenah has given up many of its rights through their recent contract.

7. Precedent-Setting

Minergy is the first of a series of similar proposals for Northeast Wisconsin. If Minergy is allowed, citizens will have a hard time preventing similar future projects. The cumulative impacts of several incinerators will be added to our already high toxic air emissions. (Other proposed or possible incinerators: Fort Howard Incinerator in Green Bay, Neutralysis in De Pere, Green Grove in Green Bay, Thilmany in Kaukauna, and Green Bay Packaging in Green Bay. And there may be many others.)

8. Poor Pollution Control and Uncertainty

Thousands of tons of serious air pollutants would be emitted (see box) into downtown Neenah, yet DNR proposes to require only a baghouse filter as a control (similar to a vacuum cleaner bag) --- claiming that this would collect 99.9% of the pollutants.

Minergy admits this plant is the first of its kind, which raises concerns about the accuracy of their predictions. When another sludge processor in Green Bay (Grantech) couldn't meet its limits, DNR simply raised the limits to equal their emissions (with a generous margin for error.) The limits there were up to 100 times higher than originally proposed to the public.

9. Persistent Toxics

Flouride and lead are serious toxins which never break down once they've been released into the environment. The long-term build-up of these in area soil and water is a large concern. In addition, many of the sludges are chlorinated and some are from recycling and de-inking operations which produce sludges contaminated with hundreds of inks, dyes, coatings, plastics, and other contaminants. Many pigments contain toxic heavy metals. The company claims that high temperature burning will destroy all the toxics --- but basic elements like heavy metals, lead and mercury would never be destroyed, and many other toxics (like dioxin) would be created as the gases leaving the burn chamber cool down and chemicals recombine. Some chemicals, such as lead and mercury, will pass right through the baghouse as gases. Others will leave attached to the 31.5 tons of particles Minergy would release into downtown Neenah each year.

10. Acid Rain

This incinerator is a large new source of sulfur dioxide and sulfuric acid --- the main precursors of acid rain --- yet DNR is not requiring scrubbers to control these toxic releases. Sulfur compounds also smell horrible and aggravate asthma patients --- potentially causing serious asthma attacks, especially in children.

Minergy will also release more 1,077 tons per year of Hydrogen Chloride, some of which becomes hydrochloric acid on exposure to rain and melting snow. Minergy is receiving an exemption from stack height restrictions to allow them to erect an unusually high stack --- so all of Northeast Wisconsin can share in this pollution.

11. Ignoring Alternatives

Incineration is touted as the ideal solution to the landfill problem --- but really it's just a cheap and dirty shifting of the problem from one form to another. It will allow the paper mills to avoid their responsibilities for many more decades.

DNR assists the paper mills by stating in their 'Environmental Assessment' that no alternatives exist. They ignore proven technologies for intensive recovery of waste fibers, and of the clay coatings. They ignore the wonderful potential for reducing the use of toxic chemicals in paper making (such as chlorine elimination) and in the printing business (toxic inks, dyes, coatings, pigments, etc.) If the sludge were uncontaminated, other safer and more beneficial uses could be found for the sludge.

12. Avoiding Liabilities

The paper companies admit they want to avoid their long-term liabilities at the landfills. By dispersing their toxics widely through the air and through untraceable aggregate sales, they will become immune to liability suits for the poisoning of wildlife and the public.

13. Final Product Contaminated

Minergy claims the glass aggregate consists of inert minerals, such as silica (from clay paper coatings), but they mislead the public. Most toxics not emitted to the air will leave the plant with the aggregate as contaminants in the 'glass.', and over years of wear, will shed additional toxics to the air, land and water. The aggregate could also cause considerable dust in downtown Neenah, during storage and transport of the final product.

13. Toxic Ash

Minergy admits their facility will still produce fly ash, though it will be recirculated several times to be incorporated in the aggregate. This ash will contain many toxics, in highly leachable form, which will require landfilling. This ash is difficult to handle without some escaping as blowing dust in downtown Neenah.

14. No Toxic Clean-up by P.H. Glatfelter Mill

Minergy has signed a lease with the City of Neenah for siting the plant on 'Arrowhead Park', a waterfront fill area created by P.H. Glatfelter's dumping of waste sludge over several decades. The fill is highly contaminated with PCBs to concentrations higher than 500 ppm, plus numerous other toxic chemicals (50 ppm PCBs is considered hazardous waste) --- and is not engineered to prevent leakage to Little Lake Butte des Mort. The DNR is exempting Minergy from hazardous waste and solid waste regulations to allow them to build on top of it without thorough site clean-up, thus preventing future clean-up of this area (DNR has also failed to require toxic remediation at other portions of this site.)

14. Violates Public Trust Doctrine and Lakebed Grant Restrictions

Under Wisconsin's Public Trust Doctrine, all lakebed is held in public trust and can only be used for public purposes. The paper mill received a lakebed grant from the state legislature in the 1950's, on the condition that the sludge fill area would eventually become a public park. Now, DNR has signed a questionable waiver to allow this private incinerator to be built on this public park land. Even though the 'park' is contaminated, this project will violate the Doctrine and set a terrible precedent for other areas of the state. It's important to oppose this violation as a matter of principle.

Neenah citizens John & Ann Gillen, and a local citizens group called the Friends of Neenah Parks, and the Clean Water Action Council have joined together to file a lawsuit challenging the City's lease to Minergy of the Arrowhead Park Site --- on the grounds that the City cannot lease public trust lands for private purposes. Currently, we're raising funds to cover the costs of this case. If you can help with a donation, please send it to the address below, made out to Clean Water Action Council. Donations are tax-deductible; therefore, receipts will sent to all donors for tax purposes.

Prepared for Neenah residents by Clean Water Action Council of N.E. Wisconsin, 2220 Deckner Avenue, Green Bay, WI 54302 Phone: 414-468-4243. Fax: 414-468-4243. E-mail: cwac@execpc.com