Schaber: "Destroy the PCBs"

What to do with the toxic sediments that are dredged from the Fox River as a part of the clean-up has become a controversial issue lately. In today's Press Gazette, Dale Schaber, conservation chairman of the Fox Valley Sierra Group, had this guest commentary about the issue.

Permanently destroy as many PCBs as possible
By Dale Schaber

There are no easy answers to the question of how to deal with toxic or hazardous waste, other than to avoid creating the waste in the first place.

When it comes to dealing with the Fox River sediments, the Sierra Club supports the use of safe treatment technologies that permanently destroy the toxic chemicals in contaminated sediments, especially when sediments are contaminated with persistent, bioaccumulative toxics such as
PCBs. Permanent destruction offers a better alternative than disposal options such as landfilling that do not permanently destroy contaminants.

In particular, we believe that the glass aggregate process called vitrification has significant potential and ought to be seriously considered as a viable treatment option, particularly for the most contaminated Fox River sediments. We believe that its few negatives — minimal air emissions, high consumption of natural gas, somewhat uncertain cost — are far outweighed by its ability to permanently destroy the contaminants.

Vitrification destroys virtually all the polychlorinated biphenyls in contaminated sediments while encapsulating heavy metals in the
finished product, and wet scrubbers can significantly minimize air emissions. Given the available options, we feel that a vitrification process with the use of wet scrubbers offers the safest method of disposing of Fox River sediments.

Vitrification uses a glass furnace to treat contaminated sediments. The furnace is designed to destroy PCBs and all other organic chemicals at 2900 degrees and has air pollution control equipment to trap any vaporized metals. The sediment melts into a smooth, molten lava, is immediately doused in water and becomes a black, glass-like product that traps metals and other non-combustible pollutants. The material can be used to make a variety of useful products including shingles and roads.

Vitrification costs are estimated to be comparable to those of landfilling, and it is less expensive than shipping Fox River sediments to the toxic waste landfill in Michigan. While we are not opposed to the landfilling of Fox River sediments, since the costs are comparable and vitrification offers a permanent solution, we ask that as much Fox River sediment be vitrified as possible.

We recognize that it may not be possible to treat all of the dredged material, particularly materials with relatively low concentrations of PCBs. Any contaminated dredged material that cannot be treated at the time of cleanup should be placed in a segregated cell in a TSCA approved landfill.

As stated in a recent Green Bay Press-Gazette editorial (July 19, 2006) "it's time to get on with the river cleanup." Let's build an on-site vitrification plant near the high level PCB contaminated sediments and get this stuff permanently removed and out of every NIMBY's ("Not In My Back Yard") backyard. This would permanently clean up the PCB contamination in the Fox River and provide for the economic and environmental health of the region.