08-18-1986 CC MIN - Laserfiche WebLink

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2 City Council Minutes August 18, 1986 e Dr. Swan the air risk was cans and found in expressed addresses said about discussed his concern with heavy metal paricu1ates going into such as lead, cadmium and chromium. Dr. Swan, stated that this also greater in RDF than with burning coal, and that even if metal are sorted out, before processing, heavy metals can be other materials processed such as printing ink. Dr. Swan his concern that the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) only heavy metals as contaminants through inhalation and nothing is possible ingestion or absorption by humans. Dr. Swan also outlined concerns with organic compounds, noting that there are 75 types of dioxins and 135 types of furons. Dr. Swan stated that these compounds have only been under study since 1975 and were discovered to be a result of municipal solid wastet burning. He further stated that dioxins have been proven to be very toxic and known to cause birth defects, liver disfunction and depression of the immune system. e Dr. Swan stated that the MPCA put out the EIS as an assessment of the effect of pollutants caused by the RDF processing and burning. He further stated that he feels the EIS makes the assumption that there would be no tumor promotion and that this is not correct as carcinogens would be emitted and could act together with other carcinogens to produce cancerous tumors. In conclusion, Dr. Swan stated that he felt the RDF processing plant should not be built because the whole operation would be detrimental to the health of the residents of Elk River. Ron Myhre, resident, discussed his concerns with safety of workers in the separation plant due to exposure to hazardous household chemicals. Mr. Myhre explained the 1983 Minnesota Employee Right to Know Act and that he felt NSP would not be able to comply with this law. Mr. Myhre further explained that the law requires the employer to provide accurate information on all hazardous chemicals the employee may come in contact with and that would not be possible with all the unknowns coming into the separation plant, this would not be possible. Other concerns noted by Mr. Myhre were: (1) traffic, odor, noise, garbage along highway and at the site. (2) no requirement for a plastic liner over the cement tipping floor and possibi1tiy of leaking through cracks. (3) possibility of ground water and river contamination if waste tank were to leak. Mr. Myhre concluded that he felt burning, burying and pollution were not the answers to the garbage disposal problem and that other methods must be developed. e