Along with the push to sell Tribes dioxin-emitting incinerators of municipal solid waste such as those promoted by Oneida Seven Generations Corporation there is also a push to entangle Tribes – including the Oneida Tribe – in building biomass incinerators, but recent court decisions and scientific findings should cause every Tribe to avoid the biomess.
Recently a Federal Court appeals decision was handed down that said the EPA had no justification for allowing biomass incinerators to avoid accountability for their CO2 emissions.
We simply have no idea what EPA believes constitutes ‘full compliance’ with the statute. In other words, the Deferral Rule is one step towards . . . what? Without a clear answer to that question, EPA has no basis for invoking the one-step-at-a-time doctrine.
There is no statutory basis for exempting biogenic carbon dioxide.
- Michael, Best & Friedrich July 15, 2013 Client Alert: Ethanol and Other Biomass Plants No Longer Exempt from Carbon Dioxide Emission Limits: D.C. Circuit Vacates EPA’s Three-Year Deferral for Biogenic CO2 Sources
That press release importantly notes:
Particulate matter is strongly linked to human health concerns. Small particles, which make up particulate matter, can pass through the throat and nose and enter the lungs. Once inhaled, these particles can affect the heart and lungs and cause serious health effects. Furthermore, particulate matter can travel by wind and settle on water or neighboring properties, causing environmental and aesthetic damage. A company that has the potential to emit large quantities of particulate matter is required to obtain an air pollution control permit from DNR and minimize particulate matter emissions by using control equipment, preventative maintenance, and abatement plans to reduce accidental releases. All Wisconsin citizens have the right to clean air and a healthy environment.
An excellent source of information regarding the many reasons for Tribes to avoid biomass incinerator projects is the Energy Justice Network at EnergyJustice.net. Here are links on some relevant topics:
- Fact Sheet on Woody Biomass
- Biomass Incineration
- Biomass Monitor
- Anaerobic Digesters
- Biomass Library – Scientific Reports
- Medical & Health Associations Opposed to Biomass
Despite all this research and evidence, the U.S. Departments of Energy & Agriculture are helping corporations target Tribes for biomass incineration projects.
Be sure to take a look at the ominous and threatening last slide of this presentation, which seems as if they’re saying with a wink, “It’d sure be a shame if your rez burnt down.”
Then there’s this:
Strangely enough, towards the end of that presentation they admit that the biomass they want to use for the project is an invasive species that would have to be trucked up from California and other states because it doesn’t grow in Washington:
Why would anyone grow & harvest an invasive species, and then expend energy trucking it to Washington to incinerate on a reservation in the name of conservation?
Such is the ‘logic’ of the USDA, DoE and the usual commercial energy company profiteer mentality.
They are counting on Tribes to not know any better and to agree to burn their own money on an epic fail of biomess.
See also: Greenpeace Report – Fueling a Biomess
