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Test results confirm emissions of dioxin are significantly lower than the clean-air standard

Posted: 11/10/17

Category: Community News

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EAST LIVERPOOL, Ohio – Air emissions of dioxin are more than 50 times lower than the national standard for clean air, according to the final results of tests conducted last month at the Heritage Thermal Services treatment facility.

Results of the tests, which have been forwarded to U.S. and Ohio environmental agencies, averaged 0.004 billionths of a gram per cubic meter of air. The U.S. EPA’s clean-air standard allows for 0.2 billionths of a gram in each cubic meter of air that flows from the stack. For perspective, there are about 28 grams in a single ounce.

The three-part, dioxin-specific test was conducted Oct. 3 – 4. The steps Heritage-followed for conducting the test, which is required every two-and-a-half years, were approved in advance by U.S. and Ohio environmental regulators. The plan was also available to the public for review and comment.

Under the Maximum Achievable Control Technology Rule for Hazardous Waste Combustors, the U.S. EPA regulates dioxin emissions more stringently and uniformly than before the regulation went into effect. Heritage was the first commercial hazardous waste incinerator in America to demonstrate compliance with all of the rule’s requirements, including the one for air emissions of dioxin.

Dioxin is a generic term for a group of 210 chlorine-related compounds, known as dioxins and furans. The compounds are generated by various industrial activities and natural sources, such as forest fires.

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