2015 Waste-to-Energy Excellence Award Entryswana.org/Portals/ExcellenceAwards/excellenceupload16813518...series of hand picking stations, ... Electricity Generated Year . Sum of Net

Wheelabrator Portsmouth Inc. Rob Johnson, Plant Manager

3809 Elm Avenue Portsmouth, VA 23704

757-393-3100 ext. 3118 [email protected]

Type of entry: Waste-to-Energy Excellence Jurisdiction: Southeastern Public Service Authority of Virginia, serving the member

communities of Southside Hampton Roads (pop. 1.2 million)

2015 Excellence Award Entry Category: Waste-to-Energy

mailto:[email protected]

2015 Waste-to-Energy Excellence Award Entry

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Wheelabrator Portsmouth Inc., located in Portsmouth, Virginia, provides dependable, environmentally safe disposal of municipal solid waste, while generating electricity to the local utility and providing steam to meet the needs of the Norfolk Naval Shipyard.

We are pleased to submit this application for the SWANA Waste-to-Energy Excellence Award. In accordance with SWANA’s application, we have prepared our submittal based on the Wheelabrator Portsmouth waste-to-energy facility’s technical design, operations performance, environmental compliance, safety record and contributions to the community.

With input from the Southeastern Public Service Authority of Virginia, we have provided an overview of the successful transition of a publically owned asset to the private sector. The facilities remain to be an integral function of the regional solid waste disposal system. We feel confident that our submittal highlights the great strides we have made in all areas over the past five years under Wheelabrator’s ownership.

DETAILED APPLICATION 1. Facility Design, Technology and Engineering

a. Facility Technology (Design and Engineering)

During the late 70’s and into the 80’s, forward thinkers in the Navy, working with the eight communities that now comprise the Southeastern Public Service Authority of Virginia (SPSA), made a 30-year commitment to supply 95% of their waste to the Navy. The Refuse Derived Fuel facility (RDF) would provide fuel for the Navy’s designed and built power plant. In 1984, the RDF Plant was completed and started to supply the fuel to the steam power plant up until 2008 when SPSA decided to initiate a procurement to sell the asset. In 2010, Wheelabrator completed the purchase of the RDF and power plant facilities, and began operating its first RDF facility where we made immediate improvements at the facilities. The Wheelabrator Portsmouth facility includes two structures: the RDF processing facility and the Energy/Power facility. Waste is received on the RDF plant tipping floor and is separated into two streams: processible and non-processible waste. All processible waste is sent to either of three processing lines for sorting, sizing and ferrous metal reclamation. The RDF is then conveyed to the waste-to-energy facility for combustion.

b. Equipment Description and basis for selection:

Since this was an acquisition of a waste-to-energy operation that was commissioned in 1980s, the two structures were purchased with the equipment that was selected by the previous owners. The following tables highlight the main components of each facility. Improvements to various equipment and processes are explained later in our application.

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Attributes of the Waste-to-Energy Facility Category Response

Number of Units Four (4) 550 ton-per-day CE Boilers

Design Steam Flow 150,000 pounds per hour per Boiler @ 650 psig@740oF, 600,000 pounds per hour

Grate Design Alstom Stoker Traveling “Roto” Grates

Design Capacity in tons per day, per boiler, and aggregate capacity

Four (4) boiler units capable of processing 550 tons per days and 2,200 total tons per day

Air Pollution Control Equipment Baghouses and Spray Dryer Absorbers

Year company began operating and maintaining the facility as owner

2010

Attributes of the RDF Facility Processing Lines Three (3) lines

Ferrous Removal Four (4) magnets, recovering 20,000 tons/year

Tipping Floor 2,000 tons

Tons processed Up to 2,900 tons per day

c. Design features that impact type of wastes that can be accepted

The RDF plant receives post-recycled MSW from SPSA community members as well as commercial haulers. Waste is received on the RDF plant tipping floor and separated into two streams: processible and non-processible. All processible waste is sent to three process lines using a crane to place material on a conveyor belt. Sorting, sizing and separation of ferrous materials takes place through a series of hand picking stations, crane picking stations, shredders and magnets on each process line. The RDF is then conveyed to the waste-to-energy facility for combustion. Waste that is initially determined to be non-processible is sorted. Any waste that is too large for the process lines is diverted to the portable bulky waste shredder to be shredded to a manageable size. This waste is re-introduced on the tipping floor. All non-processible waste is sent offsite for proper disposal. Once at the waste-to-energy facility, the RDF is either stored in a 4,500 ton refuse pit or directly fed into the boilers via the RDF feed system. The feed system consists of conveyors, hoppers and feed screws that meter the RDF into the boiler at the proper rate for good combustion. The facility is designed to process up to 803,000 tons per year (at 100% availability). In 2014, the facility processed 703,980 tons. Using the nameplate design capacity, the actual tons processed in 2014, and factoring in scheduled maintenance outages, total boiler availability correlates to more than 90% availability. The table below shows tons received and processed for the last few years.

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Tons Received and Processed Year Tons Received Tons Processed

2014 742,355 703,980

2013 744,777 709,088

2012 703,710 665,644

d. Describe energy generation as well as any other product generated

The Wheelabrator Portsmouth facility produces both steam and electricity as well as recovers ferrous and nonferrous metals. Once inside the boiler the RDF is combusted on the stoker grate. Each boiler burns approximately 30 tons of RDF per hour, generating 150,000 pounds of steam per hour with furnace temperatures exceeding 1800 degrees F. This high-pressure steam is converted into electrical energy in the turbine-generator and is also used to supply the Norfolk Naval Shipyard with 100% of its steam demand. Excess power is sold into the electrical grid. The facility’s four boilers produce more than 600,000 pounds of steam per hour that furnish heat and hot water for 94 buildings and docks at the adjacent Norfolk Naval Shipyard. That output is critical for the sailors and 9,000 civilian employees who work each day, particularly in the winter, to repair, overhaul and modernize the Navy’s ships and submarine. Excess steam is used to generate electricity providing an average of 35 MW of renewable energy to the grid.

Electricity Generated Year Sum of Net MWH

2014 267,319

2013 265,624

2012 230,545

2011 197,202 Post combustion reclamation includes a second ferrous metal separation step, followed by non-ferrous reclamation process. The following table provides an overview of metals recovered since 2011.

Percentage and Tons: 2011 2012 2013 2014

Gross Ferrous % 2.5% 2.3% 2.9% 3.0%

Gross Ferrous Tons 14,064 15,737 20,828 21,657

Net Ferrous % 2.0% 2.0% 2.3% 2.4%

Net Ferrous Tons 11,156 12,900 16,337 17,806

Gross Non Ferrous % 0.02% 0.06% 0.16% 0.33%

Gross Non Ferrous tons 137 385 1,134 2,400

Net Non-Ferrous % 0.01% 0.04% 0.12% 0.29%

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e. Describe sustainable design elements – water, energy, resilience.

In 1998, SPSA modified its wastewater systems at the power plant by segregating the cleaner streams from the streams that were exposed to ash or chemical injection. The two large settling ponds to where the wastewater flows were replumbed so that wastewater would be redirected back to the power plant for reuse in some equipment, such as the ash bottom drags, fly-ash conditioners, flash tanks, and in the flue gas dilution water system.

This reuse of water not only minimizes the need to use Portsmouth city water but also reduces wastewater discharges gallon for gallon that would otherwise flow to Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD) for processing. A flow meter connected to the pump discharges to HRSD which continuously monitors the effectiveness of this modification. Samples of the settling pond water are taken to determine the "cleanliness" of the wastewater.

2. Innovations

a. Discuss innovative aspects of the facility or its operation:

From the beginning dating back to 1984, the Portsmouth waste-to-energy facility was built to provide and meet the multiple fuel source requirements by the Department of Defense (DoD) for the Norfolk Naval Shipyard. The facility was originally designed by the Navy as a three boiler and two turbine generator operation with a fourth boiler and third generator as a spare. To build on this innovation, Wheelabrator maximized the asset of the facility by adding 50% additional cooling capacity to operate all turbine generators during the summer months when the largest volumes of refuse are delivered to the facility. This additional cooling capacity consisted of two new cells on the wet cooling tower and an air cooled condenser to maximize the three turbine generators during those peak fuel delivery months when the Navy demands for steam are reduced. These upgrades also help maximize turbine generator production throughout the year at the facility.

Under recent renewable requirements from the United States Department of Defense (DoD), the steam and electricity that is provided to the Norfolk Naval Shipyard is meeting 40% of the Navy’s renewable energy requirements for East Coast bases. This is, and should be, considered a major benefit and influence for the waste-to-energy industry and its potential for meeting certain renewable energy requirements for the DoD.

b. Discuss how the facility has (or will) influence(d) the industry.

This plant’s influence on the industry is best demonstrated by its evolution and its ownership transition to the private sector. As mentioned, the Navy built the facility in 1984 and sold it to the Southeastern Public Service Authority in 1999. In April 2010, Wheelabrator purchased SPSA’s RDF facility and the adjacent waste-to-energy facility. The sale enabled SPSA to reduce debt and operating costs and allow Wheelabrator, who has been successfully operating waste-to-energy facilities since 1975 to bring their expertise to improve performance. As such, the purchase of the plant enabled Wheelabrator to expand its waste-to-energy portfolio, giving us the opportunity to optimize the RDF process and make improvements to the overall asset. The two facilities remain an integral part of the municipal solid waste management solution for the SPSA communities and

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provide economic viability to the Southside Hampton Roads. As an influence to the industry, a successful private sector acquisition should be a business consideration for other solid waste authorities and municipalities when reviewing the future of their current assets like a waste-to-energy facility. Wheelabrator believes that the expertise, strengths and capabilities from a private sector entity help maximize the ultimate performance of a public sector asset, like a waste-to-energy facility.

3. Environmental Performance and Benefits

a. Discuss environmental controls and their operation

The Wheelabrator Portsmouth facility’s environmental controls include spray dryer absorbers and fabric filter baghouses. In 1995, SPSA performed a $31 million retrofit of all RDF boiler emission controls to comply with the stringent emission limits mandated by the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments. The retrofit replaced existing ESPs with spray dryer absorbers and fabric filters on all RDF boiler lines. In a spray dryer absorber, lime slurry is atomized and sprayed into the flue gas to neutralize acid gases (SO2 and HCl) and cool the flue gases to enhance control of both trace organics such as dioxins and metals. The fabric filters remove particulate including trace metals and trace organics from the flue gas before it is discharged out of two 275-ft. stacks. CO and NOx emissions are controlled through use of sophisticated automated combustion controls including controlled excess air and modified staged combustion. Continuous emission monitors installed in the stack flue of each boiler monitor SO2, NOX, CO and opacity emissions to ensure compliance with emission limits. New CEM systems were installed in 2011 to replace the existing outdated CEM technology to improve accuracy and maintain the highest availability. Stack emissions testing is also performed annually by a highly qualified third-party contractor using EPA test methods.

b. Discuss the overall impact of the facility on human health and environmental quality

The facility’s impact on the overall environmental quality is best demonstrated by being this year’s recipient of the Elizabeth River Project who recognized Wheelabrator Portsmouth’s commitment to “do right by the river” with the Hall of Fame Award. The Wheelabrator Portsmouth facility has been a star from the beginning becoming a River Star in the first

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year of the Elizabeth River Project on July 28, 1997. In 2010, Wheelabrator Portsmouth was recognized as a Model Level River Star. Since 2010, Wheelabrator has followed recommendations from the Elizabeth River Project and doubled the plantings behind the plant and around the storm water inlet including 180 new trees- Willow Oaks, Red Maples, White Pines, River Birches, Flowering Dogwoods and Crepe Myrtles and 60 new shrubs- Bearberries, Cotoneasters, Sweet Boxes

c. Provide evidence that the facility is in environmental compliance for operating and permit conditions:

Shortly after Wheelabrator acquired the facility, Wheelabrator and SPSA jointly developed and signed a consent order and two year compliance plan with the Virginia DEQ to address CO and other emission issues. The consent order allowed SPSA to resolve pending enforcement action and move on while providing Wheelabrator time to complete the major boiler and combustion improvements identified in the compliance plan and to permanently resolve the CO emission issues. Wheelabrator completed the improvements including installation of a new secondary air system on each boiler six months ahead of the compliance plan schedule. The facility received a Title V air permit renewal in 2013 and is currently in full compliance with its permits. The major combustion improvements combined with the increase in boiler reliability has resulted in an overall 98.2% reduction in excess CO emission hourly averages since 2012.

d. Describe climate change impacts or benefits

The waste-to-energy technology has demonstrated reduction of greenhouse gases. As EPA has acknowledged 1 ton of MSW processed for energy recovery results in approximately a one-ton reduction in Greenhouse gases (GHGs) or CO2 equivalents (CO2e). The GHG reduction is from a combination of landfill methane emission avoidance, displacement of fossil fuel power generation and metals recovered for recycling that offset GHGs associated with metal production from ore. Wheelabrator Portsmouth processes more than 700,000 tons of MSW which is equivalent to 700,000 tons of GHG or CO2e reductions by sending the steam to the turbine generators.

e. Describe ash management, including recovery of metals and beneficial reuse.

Proper ash management is critical to plant operations. An ash management program has been implemented at Wheelabrator Portsmouth, allowing confidence that the combined ash being generated is non-hazardous. The program includes periodic informal testing, and operating adjustments and formal annual ash testing in accordance with state regulation and policy to ensure the ash continuously meets non-hazardous standards. As required by state regulations, annual ash testing follows rigorous sampling procedures to ensure representative ash samples are taken. The ash samples are then analyzed using EPA’s Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP) for metals. The samples are also analyzed for pH, total organic content and total solids. Years of testing have demonstrated that the combined ash is not

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hazardous1 and is evidence that the plant’s ash management program is highly effective in ensuring ash quality. Wheelabrator has invested significant internal resources to improve overall recovery of metal from the waste stream. Sorting improvements, along with new magnets, were installed in the RDF facility. Improvements to the conveying and screening equipment for our in-house non-ferrous metal system were completed in 2013. In addition, we have contracted with Meldgaard U.S. to further process our non-ferrous metal. This has resulted in more than doubling our non-ferrous metal recovery.

4. Operational Performance

a. Describe the efficiency and reliability of facility operation, including data on key performance metrics used to assess operational performance.

Reliability is a measurement that Wheelabrator’s operations staff considers to be one of our key business metrics. Wheelabrator follows a rigorous maintenance schedule that allows our facility to keep its equipment operating at peak performance. During the first two and a half years after taking over operations of the facility, Wheelabrator introduced its corporate O&M policies and best in class maintenance practices to help achieve greater than 90% availability. As such, these performance practices raised the operational performance standards going forward. Wheelabrator’s maintenance plan has proven that unscheduled down time can be limited or even prevented by conducting in depth inspections during scheduled outages and relevant pre-outage planning. We believe that reliability and predictability are the keys to a well performing facility.

Operating Statistics 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Boiler Availability 76% 77% 86% 91% 90%

Boiler Load 136.9 142.6 143.2 146.2 142.5

Fuel Processed 604,350 575,622 665,644 709,088 703,980

Steam Produced 3,673,301 3,658,987 4,273,637 4,658,927 4,462,759

MW Sold 200,967 197,203 230,545 265,624 267,319

b. Describe design or operational improvements that have been (or are planned to be) made:

The following is a complete list of capital and major maintenance projects that Wheelabrator identified, designed and constructed in the first two years of transition. We have provided a brief description to demonstrate the magnitude of the effort and Wheelabrator’s ability to manage numerous issues that resulted in significant overall improvement of the plant’s performance.

1 i.e., the ash does not designate as a hazardous waste under US EPA regulations.

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2015 Waste-to-Energy Excellence Award Entry List of Capital Projects

Capital Project (SPP)

Description/Highlights

CO Improvement: Over Fire Air

In order to comply with our environmental permits, a new over fire air system was designed and installed in the boilers. The existing system was designed for coal burning at the facility and was no longer functional.

CO Improvement: Grate Overhaul

A complete structural overhaul of the grate systems was necessary to cure deficiencies and produce optimal combustion performance.

CO Improvement: Combustion Control

Several control areas needed to be redesigned including new O2 wet analyzers, infrared thermal probes for measuring flue gas exit temperatures, combustion logic revisions to meet CO regulatory requirements and feed system changes.

Generator Capacity Improvement: Generator Mark IV Upgrade

There was an upgrade for turbine generator automatic control improvements.

Generator Capacity Improvement: Cooling Tower

The existing cooling tower did not have sufficient capacity to accommodate a four boiler and three turbine operation.

Generator Capacity Improvement: Air Cooled Heat Exchanger

Added additional heat rejection capability for reduced Navy steam demand periods.

Reverse Osmosis System

Demineralizers were part of the original design. Installed a reverse osmosis unit to reduce costs for chemicals and water expenses.

Non-ferrous Metal Recovery Building – SPP

We installed storage bunkers and building to have Meldgaard process non-ferrous metal from the ash.

Safety Improvements

We instituted numerous projects related to safely access equipment and extensive plant guarding.

Improvements at RDF Building

Line A Conveyor Replacement

The trommel was past its useful life and was replaced with a conveyor system. The other two lines were replaced prior to the purchase.

Bulky Waste Shredder Purchased a moveable bulky waste shredder to grind larger items in order to utilize more of the available waste stream.

TC1 Crane/Picking Stations

We installed stationary cranes on each of the three lines to improve sorting of materials and remove non-processible and oversized material.

c. Describe changes in the facility since its original design and its impact on plant operation:

The Wheelabrator Portsmouth facility’s design dates back to the 1980s and the fundamentals of the design remain in place, however over the course of the past 31 years, many improvements have been made to both the RDF and waste-to-energy facilities. As an example, the facility’s air emissions retrofit was completed to meet the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendment and has ensured the facility’s ability to meet

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the stringent air permit parameters as well as having the least environmental impacts on Southside Hampton Roads. Based on the industry’s preferred indicators of performance which are boiler availability and power sales, the plant has seen tremendous upturns for both metrics. When Wheelabrator purchased the facility, the boiler availability was less than 75% and power sales were averaging 170,000 mw/year. Today, the facility is running at 90% availability and power sales were 267,319 mw in 2014.

d. Describe maintenance activities and equipment replacement and refurbishment.

We have provided a list of all major repairs at the facility in the following table.

List of Major Repairs and Maintenance

Major Repairs & Maintenance

Description/Highlights

Feeder Modifications (all four boilers)

We made feeder modifications to all four units due to air in-leakage and inconsistent fuel delivery to boilers.

Fly ash conveyor We replaced with larger conveyor, eliminating operational issues with plugging.

Plattco valves We brought in OEM to survey and repair identified issues. Repaired seats, flappers, seals, doors, etc.

Ash transfer conveyors We completely replaced two of the four conveyors. Overhauled other two to improve reliability.

East drag conveyor Drag conveyor was unreliable and could not handle four boiler operations. We rebuilt the unit to handle four boiler maximum output.

Truck load out gallery and conveyor

We completely replaced the conveyor due to condition and redesigned conveyor reducing incline angle which eliminated “mud slides”.

Atomizer vibration monitoring

We installed new atomizer vibration monitoring system to increase reliability and reduce maintenance costs.

Analyzer replacements CEMs system was unreliable requiring excessive amount of call in and maintenance Replaced on all four units.

Ductwork tramp air metal repairs

We corrected identified deficiencies to improve boiler operation and reliability. Identified areas around the fly ash system where containment was not up to Wheelabrator standards.

1st/2nd floor structural steel

We installed structural steel and floor because it was in dire need of repair and/or replacement.

Annual Maintenance Outages

Complete inspections of all systems and subsystems on each processing line. Major repairs are completed on the steam circuit and all major equipment change outs are completed and catalogued to gauge all systems’ performance and integrity.

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5. Coordination and Relationship with the Community

a. Discuss involvement of local waste professionals in operational, waste supply and other aspects of

the facility.

In addition to successfully processing the municipal tons from the eight communities comprising SPSA, Wheelabrator Portsmouth also has stand-alone agreements with commercial haulers to supplement the waste supply. We also encourage local residents to drop off their MSW and recyclables at the RDF facility.

b. Describe coordination with recycling efforts and additional materials recovery

While the SPSA member communities have their recycling programs in place, the facility recovers additional recyclable materials pre- and post-combustion. In an RDF facility, there is a complete, complex front-end recovery process that includes magnets, shredders and other equipment to recover recyclables prior to the final RDF product leaving the RDF building to be processed for energy recovery at the waste-to-energy facility. Also, the remaining ash residue is sent to a new enhanced non-ferrous removal system to extract additional ferrous and non-ferrous materials. The facilities efforts account for 13% of all ferrous metal recycled in the region.

c. Discuss how the facility is integrated with the community’s solid waste management system

The Wheelabrator Portsmouth RDF and waste-to-energy facilities are an integral part of the SPSA regional solid waste disposal system. In addition to Wheelabrator’s facilities, the system consists of the regional sanitary landfill, nine solid waste transfer stations and supporting equipment, rolling stock, ancillary facilities, and certain limited assets of the RDF plant.

d. Discuss any other beneficial relationship with the community or regional solid waste system

Commitment to the community is an integral part of Wheelabrator’s business. We have enjoyed getting to know our neighbors in Hampton Roads and becoming an engaged community partner. We actively support organizations such as the Elizabeth River Project, Lynnhaven River NOW, Virginia Aquarium and numerous others throughout Southside Hampton Roads.

Support for the Cradock Civic League was one of the first priorities for Wheelabrator, as the Craddock community is a close neighbor of our facility. The mission of this organization is to promote, encourage, improve, and protect the common good and general welfare of the citizens of Cradock and its environment. Pat Wheeler, president of the Cradock Civic League, recognized our commitment when she said, “We are very pleased with Wheelabrator’s responsiveness to citizen concerns as well as their active participation and support of community activities. We feel we have a real partner and that’s made everybody in the neighborhood very happy.”

In 2013, the W.E. Waters Middle School students participated in the annual Wheelabrator Symposium for Environment and Education and became true oyster experts by helping to bring back a once-dying oyster population to local waterways in Hampton Roads. Wheelabrator formed the Symposium program in 1994 to demonstrate that responsible environmental awareness must be grounded in fundamental science education. Since then, more than 3,000 students have participated

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in the program. This year, students will again participate in the Symposium and we are looking forward to learning about their chosen environmental project and how we can support their efforts.

e. Describe methods used to maintain facility aesthetics and promote good customer relations

Wheelabrator Portsmouth makes an effort to communicate to the community by sponsoring events and tours at the plant. We also publish a newsletter to provide citizens with updates about the facility, including performance improvements, and human interest stories about the plant and its employees.

Wheelabrator employees enjoyed helping at a recent cleanup event in Cradock where they worked side-by-side with citizens to clean up and gather hazardous waste materials to be safely and properly disposed of. In 2012, the City of Portsmouth recognized Wheelabrator Portsmouth’s environmental achievements by bestowing it with the City’s first Environmental Award. Notably, Wheelabrator Portsmouth was nominated for that honor by the Elizabeth River Project, which cited Wheelabrator’s “sustainability of methods, measurable results, and community involvement and education.” We are honored by this high praise from such a strong environmental advocacy organization.

Maintenance of the grounds surrounding the Wheelabrator Portsmouth facility is part of our routine cleanup practices at the facility.

f. Describe how your organizations promote WTE and the facility nationally and internationally

Over the past four decades, hundreds of papers have been presented at NAWTEC and other industry associations by Wheelabrator and industry experts. Wheelabrator also highlights the Wheelabrator Portsmouth facility in press releases that are distributed on the national and international newswires and our Web site. We also promote the facility as an excellent reference facility in our qualifications and proposal materials so that municipalities, counties, and solid waste authorities seeking a stable long-term solution to their solid waste management needs can read about the Wheelabrator/SPSA public private partnership success story.

6. Worker Health & Safety

a. Describe employee training program.

Wheelabrator, along with any of our subcontractors, adhere to strict Environmental Health and Safety programs that direct and manage the overall responsibility and implementation of the company’s safety policies and procedures. In 2014, Wheelabrator company-wide had a strong safety performance level, with a 2.5 total recordable incident rate. Wheelabrator Portsmouth, since the 2010 acquisition, has seen over a 60% decrease in total recordable incident rates over the past five years.

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Over the past four decades, Wheelabrator’s training program has evolved and matured and now is operating under our corporate training program call the Wheelabrator Academy. We have learned from our training experience that a successful training program needs to include a real commitment with a formalized program. Under the Wheelabrator Academy program, Wheelabrator provides comprehensive training on renewable waste-to-energy and power plant operations and maintenance to foster career growth and empower employees. The Wheelabrator Academy is based upon the following principles: • Plant management provides the resources and opportunity to help each and every employee

become fully qualified for their associated job and classification. • Each employee is responsible (and will be held accountable) for completing the required training

and demonstrating competence in all associate areas. • The training and qualification process must be fair, effective, and consistent across the different

plant sites. • Successfully completing training and qualification assignments is a required step for advancing

within the organization. b. Describe safety procedures and how injury rates are addressed

Wheelabrator believes safety is one of our priority business principles for the company's success. Safety is the adhesive that bonds our operating principles together and is an essential ingredient necessary for achieving our goal of operational excellence. We believe every incident is preventable and we will provide the tools, training, and time to perform every task safely. Nothing we do will be placed at a higher level of importance than our responsibility to protect the welfare of every worker. Our employees are Wheelabrator's most valuable resource. We encourage the active involvement of all employees in promoting a positive safety culture. We believe working safely and maintaining a safe and healthy workplace is a condition of employment each one of us shares. To learn more about Wheelabrator’s safety program, click onto our site at http://www.wtienergy.com/safety/. Wheelabrator has achieved the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (U.S. OSHA) Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) Star Worksite status at 18 energy-from-waste and independent power production facilities, and has been participating in the program since 1996. Wheelabrator Portsmouth, owned and operated by Wheelabrator beginning 2010, operates within and beyond the Wheelabrator Health & Safety Programs, and is committed to achieving VPP Star. To achieve this, all Wheelabrator Technologies' employees voluntarily commit to a comprehensive safety and health program exceeding basic compliance with OSHA standards. Each employee is trained to do every task, every day, safely and on purpose. Wheelabrator Portsmouth is active in the Voluntary Protection Program Participants’ Association (VPPPA), a nonprofit organization founded to share the benefits of cooperative programs, through communication of best practices and continuous improvement concepts. Wheelabrator Portsmouth has presented at the Region III VPPPA conference, and participates annually at the conference with the attendance of employees, supervisors, and managers.

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http://www.wtienergy.com/safety/


Injury rates are addressed through the completion of causal factor investigations, completion of corrective actions to prevent the incident from reoccurring, trend analysis, and communication of incidents to all Wheelabrator plants. Additional detail on how injury rates are addressed, is provided in the next section.

c. Describe engineering and operational controls to limit exposure to workplace hazards.

Since the acquisition, Wheelabrator has since made numerous upgrades and environmental enhancements to the facilities.

Since 2010, Wheelabrator Portsmouth employees and leadership at Wheelabrator have continuously improved health and safety, and lowered injury rates. Some of the improvements, and achievements to lower injuries, include:

1. Providing hazard recognition training, and promoting employee observations and near miss reporting

2. Recognizing employees for positive safety actions and suggestions, that improve employee health and safety

3. Recognizing employees for positive safety actions, that immediately address unsafe conditions or unsafe actions

4. Designing and installing work platforms, to improve safety and accessibility to equipment 5. Installing Picking Cranes to significantly reduce the manual lifting of waste, and reduce heat and

cold stress 6. Developing Job Hazard Analysis (JHA) specific to each routine and non-routine task 7. Developing and implementing the Wheelabrator Heat Injury Prevention Program, with the use of

Heat Index and Heart Rate Monitors. 8. Establishing “zero access” policy for machine guarding 9. Including health and safety responsibilities in annual performance evaluations for all Employees,

Supervisors, and Managers. 10. Implementing the Wheelabrator Environmental, Health, and Safety Programs In 2015, Wheelabrator Portsmouth partnered and contracted with Occupational Athletics Inc. to implement The Human Maintenance System. The Human Maintenance System (HMS) incorporates behavioral modification and sports medicine practices into the workplace to prevent employee injury and illness on the job and at home. HMS has proven to be effective Average Return on Investment is $3 - $10 per $1 invested.

7. Facility Economic and Cost Effectiveness

a. Describe sources of revenue, operating expenses and capital costs.

Sources of revenue for Wheelabrator Portsmouth come from a pre negotiated service fee agreement with the Southeastern Public Service Authority of Virginia for municipal volumes, as well as a negotiated commercial sector contract with multiple private haulers. The facility then receives revenues from its electricity sold on the grid, steam sold to the Naval Shipyard, and ferrous and non-ferrous metals it recycles from the RDF plant and the ash residue from the power plant.

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b. Describe special handling rates/arrangements (special waste)

While special waste rates are confidential between the facility and its customers, Wheelabrator Portsmouth has a robust special waste program and it is permitted for the processing of liquid special wastes as well that give the program a unique factor. In 2014, 14,500 tons were processed at the facility under the special waste program.

c. Describe the operating agreement and other contractual commitments and how they relate to cost-effective operation.

The operating agreement between Wheelabrator Portsmouth and the Southeastern Public Service Authority of Virginia handles municipal tons as well as commercial tons through its system. There is a cost share by Wheelabrator with the Authority on the transportation of commercial tons from the systems transfer stations to the RDF processing facility, as well as an agreement with the Authority to take ash residue for disposal at the Authority’s regional landfill. This all helps to keep the project cost effective within the region and its market base for MSW disposal. We have a long term agreement with the US Navy to provide steam to the Naval Shipyard.

d. Explain tipping fees and show they are cost-competitive with other disposal options

Pricing for municipal tons and commercial tons are based on the regional market place for disposal, plus an offset for transportation which keeps the disposal options competitive with the other disposal options in the region. There are a number of landfills in the region and the current agreements keep the commercial tons within the system as opposed to being sent to regional landfills close by as the all in factors, T&D are cost-competitive with other regional disposal sites.

e. Explain whether the facility operates within budget.

The facility, with the exception of the first two years after acquisition where there was a significant amount of capital project work done to repair and optimize the facility’s performance has been positive to its planned budget the last three years.

f. Compare economics of this facility with others in the industry.

The fact that the facility is an RDF facility means that there is an extra or larger expense on the front end of the process with the operations of the RDF facility. Here bulky MSW is shredded after ferrous front end removal, and conveyed to the power plant. The preparation of the RDF adds a cost factor to the volumes on a per ton basis that has to be managed closely so as compared to a mass burn facility, there is the added cost factor. However, with the facility repaired and refurbished for optimal performance, and the Wheelabrator operating protocols put in place, this RDF facility has been operating at over 90% availability since the capital improvement projects the first two years after the purchase of the facility. The ability to keep an RDF facility operating at over 90% availability which is very high as compared to other RDF facility operations keeps the revenues maximized so that the economics and returns are within industry standards for positive performance.

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Documents

2015 Waste-to-Energy Excellence Award Entryswana.org/Portals/ExcellenceAwards/excellenceupload16813518...series of hand picking stations, ... Electricity Generated Year . Sum of Net