Terra Mentis Environmental Consulting
Trash to Energy/Incineration
Burning waste to produce energy was seen as a way of reducing the volume of waste required to be land-filled and generating much needed energy from the waste. The surrounding communities questioned the safety of burning trash and so risk assessment was used to help design the Trash-to-Energy facilities to show that the technology was safe.
Lancaster Trash-to-Energy Facility, Lancaster, MA: A trash-to-energy incinerator in Massachusetts designed to burn municipal solid waste.
- Performed a multiple-exposure pathway, multimedia risk assessment for permitting a new trash-to-energy incinerator
- The project was conducted in accordance with both state and state-of-the-art guidelines and included an interactive analysis with engineers, designers, and air quality modeling experts
Falls Township and Potts Town Trash-to-Energy Facilities, PA: Potential emissions from two proposed waste-to-energy facilities in Pennsylvania.
- Extensive air quality modeling for the multi-pathway risk assessment
- Provided risk estimates in conjunction with an engineering support team, and conducted presentations at public meetings
South American Coal-fired Power Plant: Conducted risk assessment for facility emissions including Sox No2 COx and particulate matter. Hazardous emissions such as PAH, and metals including arsenic, lead, cadmium, and chromium. The project was funded by the Word Bank and used U.S. EPA guidelines to an acceptable risk.
- Helped with the planning process for a new coal-fired power plan
- Conducted and revised risk assessment
- Compared emissions