Advocates and opponents remain at odds over a proposed fertilizer plant in Moreau in the wake of new federal guidelines on PFAS chemicals.
Saratoga Biochar Solutions’ $83 million proposed facility would see more than 700 tons of biosolids, what environmental activists call sewage sludge, shipped to the northern Saratoga County plant for processing six days a week.
CEO Raymond Apy says his company’s process of heating biosolids into a carbon fertilizer already falls in line with new EPA guidelines for disposal and destruction of PFAS, known as “forever chemicals.”
“But within the EPA’s guidance for PFAS destruction and biosolids they specifically state that according to their testing and research that if you pyrolyze biosolids at 1,100 degrees Fahrenheit, you can’t find any traces of PFAS in the biochar that comes out of the process. And that’s exactly what we found, that’s what we’ve been saying all along,” said Apy.
In typical biosolid incinerators, temperatures may not reach the EPA’s guidelines for destroying the harmful gas created in the heating process. Apy says his company’s technology exceeds the EPA’s base temperature for complete destruction by nearly 200 degrees.
Clean Air Action Network member Tracy Frisch says the guidelines should not be read as an endorsement of Saratoga Biochar’s technology.
“I believe that Saratoga Biochar’s best skill is in lying and misinterpreting. EPA’s new guidance says additional research is needed to determine the effectiveness of pyrolysis for destroying different PFAS containing materials. And so, the science is not final,” said Frisch.
The EPA’s guidelines say more research needs to be done to evaluate the safety of pyrolysis at an industrial scale. Apy says his company will be an asset for the EPA.
“And so we look forward to partnering with the EPA for additional research and testing of our facility, of our output and of our emissions and our product. And we’re very confident what those results will be and we look forward to adding to the federal database that’s needed so that this technology can proliferate because it’s the right way to deal with waste management,” said Apy.
Frisch says opponents of the facility will continue to challenge Saratoga Biochar in any way possible.
“The purpose of this plant is to make profit for Saratoga Biochar, Casella Waste, and any future corporations that would be involved. It would not address problems on the radar of the communities in the region,” said Frisch.
Apy adds that his company is committed to staggered production to allow for testing and would be prepared to halt operations if any undesirable results come back.
“But again, we’ve proposed to do this in three phases where the first phase ramps up slowly, it never gets beyond 1/3 of the project’s total capacity and it gives us and the regulators an oppourtunity to test and monitor, test and monitor and see how it goes before we try to expand that scale,” said Apy.
Progress on the plant is stalled after the town planning board implemented a construction moratorium. Apy plans to seek an exemption from the moratorium, given previous site plan approval.
