Pollution Violations May Test Public Support for Biodiesel

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://biodieselmagazine.com/article.jsp?article_id=2383&article_title=Pollution+Violations+May+Test+Public+Support+for+Biodiesel

From the June 2008 Issue

Pollution Violations May Test Public Support for Biodiesel

As relative newcomers to the industrial world, biodiesel producers, who are generally regarded as environmentally friendly, need to be good neighbors when it comes to properly disposing of byproducts. Although the scientific and regulatory communities have yet to agree on the toxicity of biodiesel byproducts, the industry should be prepared as the regulatory framework for the fledgling industry materializes.

By Sarah Smith

Riverkeeper Nelson Brooke is a biodiesel supporter—so much so that he makes his own backyard brew. When Alabama Biodiesel Corp. took over a local mulching operation, Brooke welcomed it to the neighborhood—in this case, the Carthage Branch of the Black Warrior River. Brooke wondered about potential pollution from the refinery, but told the company he hoped it would be a shining example as the state’s first biodiesel venture. Now his nonprofit organization is embroiled in a lawsuit with A-B Corp. after Brooke discovered dark-colored pollutants floating along the waterway that is a major recreational area for Alabamians.

In July 2006, a group of golfers on the Meadow Hills Golf Course in Iowa Falls, Iowa, was startled to find several dead fish and a milky-colored discharge in School Creek, which runs along the course. A subsequent investigation by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources traced the discharge to a Cargill biodiesel plant and glycerin refinery. A septic system contractor allegedly disposed of a sludge wastewater mixture from the facilities on acreage at a recycling site that seeped into the creek. Cargill entered into a partial consent order with Iowa and paid a $100,000 fine for the pollution, without admitting fault.

In Missouri a farmer was spotted discharging the contents of a tanker into Belle Fountain Ditch in October 2007. State and federal responders found decomposing glycerin and methanol generated from the Natural Biodiesel Plant near Hermondale. The farmer now faces criminal charges under U.S. Environmental Pollution Agency laws, for allegedly violating the Clean Water Act. U.S. EPA Region 7 Administrator John Askew says anywhere from 30,000 to 100,000 fish and other aquatic life died as a result of the discharged pollutants. “EPA supports the growth of the renewable fuels industry, however workers need to be environmentally responsible,” he says. The plant itself is not charged with any violations.

These incidents may cause biodiesel to get a reputation as a bad neighbor. But a closer look reveals a fledgling industry struggling with a host of issues that go beyond simple acts of pollution. Perception is everything, within and outside of the industry. The perception that this renewable fuel may be environmentally hazardous is new to the industry, and the public. That’s because the scientific and regulatory communities seem divided on the toxicity of biodiesel byproducts.

...

[Lance_Boyle]

1. GAH! Propaganda!

Methanol is not a byproduct of biodiesel production, it is an ingredient (the most expensive ingredient). Oil, methanol, and lye --> biodiesel. The "bad" waste product is glycerol, which is a FANTASTIC addition to a compost pile, but probably not to a river.

[OKIsItJustMe]

3. Interesting propaganda source (don't you think?)

[Zachstar]

2. Not good for the industry.

I fully support getting rid of greenwashing. You can't call yourself green and then dump toxic crap into the water supply.

And yes if it causes a bloom that eats the oxygen out of the water it is toxic.