A map of the most toxic industrial boilers USA

map of the most toxic industrial boilers USA

Much of the most dangerous for the atmosphere boilers are in the ” industrial ” states, it states , located east of the Mississippi River, but also in the west has 68 such boilers.

Industrial plants in North Carolina, Pennsylvania and South Carolina have to do a major upgrade of its manufacturing processes , when, and if EPA ( environmental protection agency ) will cause business owners to solve the problem of toxic emissions from power boilers , industrial enterprises.

This information has recently produced a non-profit organization (Earth justice), marked on the map location of 1,753 industrial boilers . These are the same boilers, which will cause pollution of ” curb ” in accordance with the new rules worked out by the Office for the Protection of the Environment . Most of the boilers ” offenders ” is working in heavy industry east of the Mississippi.

“We had to break your head over how to make the dialogue more real ,” – said Jim Pew , a staff attorney of the company , which specializes in environmental law .

“The term ‘ boiler ‘ is often misleading because people understand by the device that is in their basement . However, the scale of these local sources of energy is huge. Many people are unaware that there are industrial power plant near their homes. And in this neighborhood , they are constantly surrounded by a lot of pollution. People need to know what the emissions performance of such stations , then they will understand why they need to control. ”

Industrial boiler is a large circular tank . Fuel , air and water to enter them on conventional pipes , chimneys and the exhaust gases discharged into the atmosphere or air pollution control . Inside the boiler fuel is burned , and during this process produces steam which is fed through the tubes of the boiler to produce their own energy , or heat. Typically, industrial boilers, which are of interest EPA, run on fuels such as coal, oil, or bio- fuel.

EPA issued its latest package of rules for industrial boilers December 2. The 60-day public comment period ended on Tuesday . Representatives of the agencies plan to issue a final version of the rules in the spring. If Congress does not lay a ban on the rules , they will take effect over the next few years.

Standards – known as ” maximum achievable control technology boilers » (MACT)- reduce the number of permissible toxic pollutants , including mercury , sulfur dioxide, dioxin, lead, nitrogen dioxide , as well as the size of which is less than the thickness of a human hair.

An estimated EPA, the new rules for boilers to prevent 8,100 premature deaths , 5,100 heart attacks and 52,000 cases of asthma exacerbation .

Earth justice study showed that 1,753 toxic boilers with which it is trying to fight , are 758 private industrial facilities in 44 states , Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands .

States with 50 or more boilers – ” troublemakers ” is North Carolina (166 ), Pennsylvania (99), South Carolina ( 91 ) Virginia (87 ), Indiana (86 ), Michigan (84 ), Ohio (83 ), Wisconsin ( 72 ) , MN (68 ) AL (61 ), Illinois (60), Tennessee (59) , Georgia (55) and IA (51).

Steel rolling companies , paper manufacturers , chemical plants and other industrial enterprises, often set several boilers in one place to meet their energy needs. For example, North Carolina 166 boilers are 52 plants.

A breakdown of the potentially dangerous boiler in the states , which are made Earth justice does not include Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, South Dakota , Utah and Vermont. In these six states are mostly small industrial zone .

At 1,753 boilers in enterprises that are subject to the rules in the year emit 10,000 pounds of mercury , 215,000 pounds of lead , 123,000 pounds of chromium , 100 million pounds of hydrogen chloride , and 100 million pounds of solid particles.

According to the EPA, these boilers are the third -scale source of mercury pollution in the United States .
“The most amazing thing is that such a small number of industrial plants is responsible for huge atmospheric pollution ,” – said Pugh . ” Among the vast number of businesses only tiny group causes so much damage .”

Terms of EPA, which should have been taken a long time, apply to two categories of boilers – 14,000 globally polluting boilers and 187,000 local polluting boilers.

88 per cent of global pollutants boilers – about 12,300 – can be brought into line with the standards of emissions annually exercising their setting. The remaining 12 percent – including 1,753 boilers , which are indicated on the map Earth justice – to minimize toxic emissions need to be upgraded or replaced.

Ninety- eight percent of local polluting boilers – about 183.300 – will meet emissions standards in the performance of their regular maintenance. The remaining 2 percent , which is about 3,700 , will have to upgrade to be able to control their emissions.