0 3 3 9 County of Santa Cruz DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS

701 OCEAN STREET, ROOM 410, SANTA CRUZ, CA 95060 (831) 454-2160 FAX (831) 454-2385 TDD (831) 454-2123

THOMAS L. BOLICH DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS

AGENDA: OCTOBER 7,2008

September 29,2008

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS 701 Ocean Street Santa Cruz, California 95060

SUBJECT: PLASMA ARC GASIFICATION DEMONSTRATION PROJECT AT BUENA VISTA LANDFILL

Members of the Board:

On June 10,2008, your Board accepted a preliminary report on a proposed plasma arc gasification demonstration project at the Buena Vista Landfill and deferred consideration of a hosting agreement with adaptiveARC for the proposed gasification plant. Your Board also directed Public Works to identify any County permits that would be needed for this demonstration project.

Public Works has held preliminary discussions with the Planning Department and Monterey Bay Unified Air Pollution Control District (MBUAPCD) to clarify their permit and environmental review processes. A copy of a flowchart of these permit processes is attached. Also attached is correspondence from the MBUAPCD that deems adaptiveARC’s permit application incomplete and notifies them that they are ceasing work on the permit until adequate information is received.

Because of the controversial nature of this proposed project and lack of any real emissions test data, it is now expected that the length of time necessary to receive permits for even a demonstration project could be excessive. With the potential need for an environmental impact report and all the potential appeal points in the process (including the Coastal Commission), it is feasible the final approval could take from two to three years. If litigation is involved, this schedule could be extended dramatically.

Attached is a comprehensive project description that we prepared for your Board’s information. The draft host agreement, which is still in the administrative review stage, has been reviewed by County Counsel and Public Works staff, and comments have been compiled to share with adaptiveARC. It is apparent that major modifications would be needed to this working document before it will be ready to submit to your Board for consideration. AdaptiveARC’s initial submittal was not received for two months after your Board approved investigating this project concept. At that time the project was presented by adaptiveArc as a minimal-cost project to the County. The draft hosting agreement contains many unclear provisions that might require financial participation by the County. The current document lacks ample detail to be able to estimate these costs, but they could be substantial and certainly were not included in the landfill

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budget. In addition to the unknown potential infrastructure costs, there are the permit application costs, environmental impact review costs, appeal costs and potential litigation costs.

Before we can bring a hosting agreement for your Board’s consideration so your Board can then decide whether the County should continue to work with adaptiveArc on this new technology, the Department of Public Works and County Counsel will work with the vendor on clarifying these issues. The final version of this document will determine who pays for all of these costs as well as clearly describing the permit and environmental review processes to be followed by all the appropriate regulatory authorities. As previously stated, if we are to continue with this process, the County has no intention of “fast-tracking’’ the plasma arc gasification demonstration project and expects that the project will go through the regular permitting process, including full environmental review.

We would therefore request that consideration of this agreement and the subsequent permit application process be deferred until late November to allow for further discussions and refinements of the draft host agreement. At that time we would also expect to have a complete outline of all the permits required for this demonstration project and the accompanying process and timeline for environmental review.

It is therefore recommended that the Board of Supervisors take the following actions:

1. Defer consideration of the hosting agreement with adaptiveARC for a plasma arc gasification demonstration project at the Buena Vista Landfill in order to allow Public Works and County Counsel to continue negotiations with adaptive ARC.

2. Direct Public Works to return to your Board with the proposed hosting agreement along with a complete outline of the permits required for the project on or before November 25,2008.

Yours truly, A

Director of Public Works TLB :MLS :mg

Attachments

RECOMMENDED FOR APPROVAL:

County Administrative Officer

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copy to: Public Works adaptive Arc

adaptive arc agreement m.wpd

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PLASMA ARC GASIFIER PROJECT DESCRIPTION

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L . DEMONSTRATION PROJECT

INTRODUCTION The County of Santa Cruz has received an offer fkom a private company to install a demonstration plasma arc gasification plant at the Buena Vista Landfill. This facility is

resulting gas being used as a fuel source for an adjacent electrical generator. intended to convert municipal solid waste fiom a solid to a gaseous state with the _ _

This facility is being considered as a method for handling the residual solid waste remaining at the Buena Vista Landfill after all other materials recovery activities have diverted the maximum amount feasible. This facility is being examined as an alternative to continued landfill disposal of the Co~nty’s residual solid waste, proposed to take place at the Marina Landfill in Monterey County after Buena Vista reaches capacity in five or so years.

This particular technology is one approach of a larger industry termed Conversion Technology which is being developed and evaluated in many different forms and many different locations throughout the state and elsewhere

Because this technology is new and untested, it is being offered on a temporary demonstration basis. The primary equipment of the facility, a gasifier reactor and a generator, is mobile and would be delivered, and removed, via truck trailer. The proposal is to install the equipment and operate it under regulated testing conditions for a 7-9 month period, after which time a decision would be made, based on findings of the operation, whether to establish the facility on a more pennanent basis.

The primary environmental concerns from this proposed facility would be in the area of air quality. The purpose of the demonstration project would be to operate the equipment in order to gather air emission data. During this testing period the facility will operate intermittently under operating and testing parameters to be developed in coordination with the Monterey Bay Unified Air Pollution Control District.

FACILITIES The gasification process involves several steps. Mixed municipal solid waste (MMSW) is received at the site, sorted, shredded and metered into the plasma arc gasification reactor. Once the syngas has been created, it is then blended with diesel fuel and fed into an electrical generator. The gasification process yields an ash residue, which is ejected from the reactor into a storage container via a conveyor system, then stored on-site until shipped to end-users.

Pre-Processing: Receiving, Sorting and Shredding MMSW is delivered either by refuse collection vehicle or self-haul vehicle to the receiving floor. Selected vehicles will be diverted fkom the normal landfill active face

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Batch Testing (start-up) 5-20 tons per week operating hrs TBD batch flow

Stream Testing (subject to 50 tons per day Air Quality Permits) operates 12 hrs/day, M-F

continuous flow Final Testing (subject to Air 100 tons per day Quality Permits) 24 hour operation, M-F

continuous flow

disposal area; no additional traffic to the site will be generated. The receiving pad will be 20 feet by 40 feet in size and will consist of poured concrete. It will be located at the upper closed site, on the landfill and will be under a pole barn structure.

3-4 month duration

2 month duration

2-3 month duration

Initially the materials will be hand sorted for white goods and obvious metals, batteries, household hazardous waste, etc. before entering a conveyor system to deliver the material to a heavy-duty industrial shredder. The waste material after being shredded will be conveyed to a temporary storage facility where it will be treated with lime. From the storage facility the material will be conveyed to the reactor for final processing. Initial operations will be in batch mode.

The storage facility can be either of two options: 1. A covered trench which that prevents dust, bio-aerosols, and exposure. 2. An elevated storage facility such as a container or conveyor that has been

covered.

The waste is then conveyed from the storage facility to the reactor for processing. Sorting and shredding of the material will happen only within normal landfill operating hours, 8am-5pm, Monday through Friday.

Initial operations will only last a few hours per week and happen in batch testing mode. This will happen in with review from all of the permitting authorities.

Plasma Are Reactor / Electrical Generator The plasma arc reactor will be located under a pole barn structure adjacent to the shredding and storage area. It will sit on a poured concrete pad approximately 75ft. by 1 3 3 . The electrical generator will sit adjacent to the reactor and also be located on the same pad.

The reactor is approximately 55ft. by loft. by 1%. tall with a 30ft. flue (see photo). The generator is approximately 1%. by loft. by loft. tall (see photo).

The initial proposal from the technology provider identifies the following phases of the demonstration operation:

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Waste material is gravity fed into the reactor through a heated stack to dry the material. Waste then enters the main reactor plasma field where it is heated in the absence of oxygen to approximately 2400 degrees F. This creates molecular dissolution of the solid material resulting in a transformation to gas. The high temperature plasma state enables carbon, hydrogen and oxygen gases to be re-combined into a synthetic natural gas (syngas) f’bel. According to the technology provider, the combination of high temperatures and alkaline conditions in the reactor neutralizes dioxins and other toxics in the gas and as the reactor is a closed system, no air emissions are produced.

The electrical generator would operate on parallel hours to those indicated above. The generator is a coriunercially available unit that is modified to run on a blend of diesel fuel and syngas.

The reactor requires about 30 minutes to warm-up and begin normal operation. During this period the generator is producing power for the reactor warm-up, shredder and conveyors. Approximately 1000 gallons per day of water are also required for the operation. Waste water produced during the gas-quenching phase is re-circulated back into the reactor.

For each ton of waste material fed into the reactor about 110lbs. of ash are produced. The ash is alkaline but does not otherwise contain any hazardous components. Materials that were not recycled prior to gasification can easily be separated fi-om the ash during. Until the vendor secures a market for this material it will be buried in the landfill as part of the normal disposal operations.

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WSTRICT BOARD MEMBERS

CHAIR Reb Monaco San Benito County

VICE CHAIR Simon Salinas Monlerey county

._--.---- Lou Calcagno Monterey County

Tony Campos Sanla CNZ Cwnly

Dennis Donohue City of Salinas

Doug Emerson San Benilo Cwnty cities

Gary Wilmol Montuey peninsula Cities

Ellen Pine .Sank Cruz County

!la Mettee- McCutchon Monkerey County

Sam Storey Sanb Cruz County Cities

George Worthy South Monterey County Cities

p; MONTEREY+A Y Unified Air PolIution Control District servlng Monterey, San Banito, and Sanb Crur counties

AIR POLLUTION CONTROL OFFICER Douglas Quetln

24580 Silver Cloud Court Monterey, California 93940 831/647-9411 FAX 831/647-8501

August 18,2008

Mr. Gabriel Jebb VP of Operations AdaptiveARC, Inc. 7683 Sitio Manana Carlsbad, CA 92009

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SUBJECT: APPLICATION 13905 ARC PLASMA GASIFICATION REACTOR & GENERATOR SET

DearMr. Jebb:

The District has been working with you on your application received on May 14,2008. On June 19, 2008, an e-mail was sent to you requesting specific infomation that is required by the District to process the application.

As of the date of this letter we have not received the requested information; therefore, we have no option but to deem your application incomplete. The application is deemed incomplete due to the following reasons:

1) Definition of Proiect: The application lacks a description of the project necessary to pedorm,a permit evaluation.

2) Compliance Determination: The application lacks the necessary information to make compliance determinations with the District Rules & Regulations.

3) Use Permit: The application lacks a discussion of the County Use Permit for this project.

The following information is necessary in order for the District to perform a complete evaluation of your project:

I ) A project description which includes specific information on all equipment necessary for the operation.

2) Complet €/ process flows for the operation showing all potential emission points including, but not limited to: waste feed, ash removal, heatlvent stack, and engine exhaust. The process flow diagram(s) or narrative(s) should also contain the following: waste/energy inputs, expected quantity of ash generated, synthetic gas production estimates, diesel usage estimates, exhaust flow/ernissions estimates, and expected chemical reactions in the reactor .

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3) A discussion of the expected criteria and toxic emissions and a risk assessment based upon these expected emissions. This discussion and risk assessment should be based upon available testing and expected chemical reactions from the process.

4) A proposed schedule for start-up operations, and for performance testing of toxic and criteria pollutants from the operation.

Evaluation of your application will resume upon receipt of the required infomation. The length of review required by this project will be determined by the thoroughness of the application package as described above and the time required by the District to extract the necessary infonnation fiom the submitted mat eri als.

Additionally, before the Authority to Construct for this project is issued the District will need confirmation from the Santa Cmz County Planning Department that a Use Permit has been issued.

If you have any W h e r questions regarding this matter, please contact me at the District office.

Sincerely,

P-3- Mike Sewell Air Quality Engineer

c: Mr. Mark Deming . Assistant Planning Director

Santa Cmz County Planning Department 701 Ocean Street, 4th Floor Santa Cruz, CA 95060