PFPI-BiomassIsTheNewCoal-April-2-2014

determination for a particular material must describe how the materials are processed, and submitits own supporting data on contaminant levels in its product to the EPA. The EPA then reviewsthese data, comparing data on contaminant levels in the material to a standard set of contaminationlevels in wood and coal that ranges from the lowest to the highest levels observed, an extraordinaryrange. If EPA deems contamination levels in the waste-derived fuel are comparable to those in coal(and sometimes even if they are not), the EPA issues a comfort letter to the company approving thereclassification of the material from “waste” to “fuel.”We reviewed several recently issued comfort letters, and concluded that the EPA review process issloppy. 139 For example, we found that the EPA trusts companies to test and provide data oncontaminants they expect to be present, and does not require similar materials to be tested forsimilar contaminants. Given the high contaminant concentrations presented by EPA as beingpresent in wood, against which the fuel products are supposed to be compared, it seems likely thatthe Agency has included contaminated wood as the baseline for measurement. However, thisrepresents circular reasoning, as it assumes that contaminated wood is already acceptable as fuel.We also noted that the ranges of values for contaminant concentrations in fuel vary wildly, and thatthe EPA’s estimate for formaldehyde content in wood, against which prospective fuels arecompared, is derived from a single unpublished memo from a single industry source. 140EPA signs off on a contaminated fuel product: phthalates and fluorine in SpecFUELIt seems likely that EPA’s process for transforming wastes to fuel, carried out far from public view,can easily lead to approval of contaminated materials as fuel. For instance, the waste disposalcompany Waste Management makes a product called “SpecFUEL,” which consists ofmostly paper and plastic compressed into cubes. The EPA comfort letter 141 to the company statesthat according to company-submitted data, “All contaminants in SpecFUEL are comparable to or lowerthan those contaminants in both coal and wood/biomass with the exceptions of antimony, fluorine, and bis(2-ethylhexl)phthalate. The latter is a synthetic chemical commonly referred to as DEHP and is used as aplasticizer in plastics, resins, consumer products, and building materials.”The DEHP that EPA refers to here is commonlyknown as phthalate, one of a recognizedendocrine disrupting class of chemicals that arebeing phased out in the European Union due toEPA has approved waste-derived fuelsthat contain phthalates, which are knownendocrine disruptorspotential health effects, including potential effects on development of reproductive organs inchildren. EPA’s own reference page on DEHP states, “Animal studies have reported increased lungweights and increased liver weights from chronic inhalation exposure to DEHP. Oral exposure has resulted in139Available at http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/nonhaz/define/140EPA’s memo titled “Contaminant concentrations in traditional fuels: Tables for comparison,” dates November 29, 2011 andavailable at http://www.epa.gov/osw/nonhaz/define/pdfs/nhsm_cont_tf.pdf, cites “Written communication from Tim Huntof American Forest & Paper Association to Jim Berlow of EPA, July 14, 2011” as the sole source for data on formaldehyde levelsin wood.141Letter to Ms. Kerry Kelly, Waste Management, from US EPA Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, August 22,2013. Available at http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/nonhaz/define/63