Environmental Monitoring
ecomaine demonstrates its commitment to ecological stewardship and sustainability through compliance, continuous improvement, communication and protection of the environment. These four tenets serve as the foundation of ecomaine’s environmental policy which value worker participation in monthly meetings to maintain the environmental management system (EMS).
Air Quality
ecomaine continuously monitors four criteria pollutants: carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur dioxide (SO2) and opacity. ecomaine also measures levels of cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), hydrogen chloride (HCl), particulate matter (PM), ammonia (NH3), and dioxin/furans. ecomaine maintains state-of-the-art air pollution control technology (APCT) for the efficient removal of pollutants from the flue gas. The technology include:
- Electrostatic precipitators (ESP) with an optimization systems to eliminate 99% of particulate matter, cadmium & lead metals from emissions;
- Activated carbon injection systems remove mercury and dioxin/furan from flue gas;
- Spray dryer absorbers with alkaline slurry scrubbers neutralize acid flue gases such as: sulfur dioxide (by 80%) & hydrogen chloride (by 95%);
- Selective non-catalytic reduction (SNCR) system reduce nitrogen oxide emissions.
Solid Waste Ash
The process of WTE combustion results in a combined ash comprised of 90% bottom ash and 10% fly ash. Bottom ash is inert with glass and metal, while Fly ash represents the material removed from the flue gas by the ESP. Prior to loading ash in transport trucks, a magnet located above the ash removes metal such as box springs and propane tanks which are sold and recycled as scrap metal. The combined ash is transported for disposal at ecomaine’s secure ashfill located 2.0 miles from the waste-to-energy (WTE) plant. Trash processed at the WTE is reduced by 90%. Thus, ashfills have a distinct advantage over traditional raw MSW landfills because Ash occupies one-tenth the space needed for burial of raw MSW and can address the waste disposal needs of ecomaine residents for far longer into the future.
At a mandated frequency, ecomaine rigorously tests its ash for heavy metals. Decades of results are consistently below applicable regulatory thresholds defining ecomaine’s combined ash as a non-hazardous special waste.
Water Quality
In accordance with requirements from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (MDEP), ecomaine evaluates the water quality around and under its facilities. ecomaine maintains a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) to limit adverse impacts from the activities of the Waste-to-Energy, Recycling, and Landfill facilities. Results from environmental monitoring, consistently confirm that ecomaine operations do not adversely impact the surrounding environment.
