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Carbon Filtration for Reducing Emissions from Chemical Agent Incineration (1999)

Chapter: 6 Findings and Recommendations

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Suggested Citation:"6 Findings and Recommendations." National Research Council. 1999. Carbon Filtration for Reducing Emissions from Chemical Agent Incineration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9651.
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6
Findings and Recommendations

The estimated concentrations and emission rates of SOPCs from chemical agent incinerator operations developed during the permitting processes for the Anniston Chemical Agent Disposal Facility and the Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility were below the thresholds of regulatory concern, whether or not a passive carbon filtration system (like the PFS) was included in the facility design. Therefore, the committee considers PFS to be risk neutral to off-site populations.

The addition of a PFS to the PAS would probably reduce the already low emissions of some SOPCs during normal, transient, and upset operating conditions. However, a PFS would also increase worker risk by making the facility more complex and by introducing new scenarios for potential facility upsets and failures. The extent of the increase in worker risk is not clear because all of the applicable risk evaluations (e.g., Phase 2 QRAs and health, safety, and environmental evaluations) and resulting risk mitigation measures have not yet been completed. Preliminary assessments, however, indicate that the increase in worker risk would be small.

Significant changes in permitted facility designs require permit modifications, which could cause substantial delays. Because risk analyses consistently indicate that the storage risk to the public and workers is much greater than the processing risk, changing the permitted configuration at any stockpile site is likely to increase the overall risk by delaying destruction of the stockpile.

Finding 1a. The reported emitted concentrations of SOPCs measured during trial bums at the JACADS and TOCDF incinerators are among the lowest reported to the EPA. TOCDF emissions are the lowest, or at least one of the lowest, in dioxins, mercury, cadmium, lead, arsenic, beryllium, and chromium. The reported emissions of some SOPCs were based on the analytical detection limit for the constituent, which means the actual concentration could be much lower than the reported concentration. Maximum emitted concentrations from JACADS were used for the HRAs for other baseline facilities to ensure that estimates of risks would be conservative.

Finding 1b. In 1992 and 1994, the NRC recommended that the Army investigate using carbon filters for two purposes: (1) to contain transient stack emissions or accidental releases of agent and (2) to increase public confidence in incineration. Activated carbon filters in use at several large incinerators in Europe meet very stringent regulations on emissions of chlorinated dioxins/furans and are considered to be the state-of-the-art technology for this purpose. Based on preliminary design evaluations, activated carbon in the PFS of the Army's baseline incineration system is likely to have sufficient adsorption capacity to reduce emitted concentrations of dioxins, furans, HD, VX, and GB for more than a year of normal operations before the activated carbon would have to be replaced. The activated carbon would also have the capacity to adsorb a chemical agent in case of a major upset; however, a major upset would necessitate the immediate replacement of the activated carbon.

The addition of carbon filters to a baseline incineration PAS does not appear to reduce the health risk to the surrounding population substantially because the health risk is already small (see Finding 1a). Nevertheless, reinforcing public and worker confidence is an important goal.

Suggested Citation:"6 Findings and Recommendations." National Research Council. 1999. Carbon Filtration for Reducing Emissions from Chemical Agent Incineration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9651.
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Recommendation 1. The Army should only consider removing the carbon filtration system from the permitted designs of the Anniston, Umatilla, or Pine Bluff facilities if, after a thorough implementation of the change management process to ensure meaningful public involvement, the public supports that decision.

Finding 2. Based on the evaluation of preliminary PFS design alternatives, an effective design for the PFS is feasible. Operating facilities in several countries now have significant experience in the design and operation of activated carbon filters.

Recommendation 2. The Army should take advantage of the experience of other users of carbon filters through appropriate consultation.

Finding 3. The Army has evaluated the implications of adding or removing passive carbon filter systems to the baseline incineration systems at the Tooele, Anniston, and Umatilla disposal facilities. Some of the impacts on risk to public health from stack emissions were evaluated by comparing the HRAs for the existing baseline facilities to estimates of the upper bound of public health risk posed by the addition of the PFS. However, the potential reductions in public health risk were not estimated, and the evaluations of impacts to off-site populations were incomplete.

An estimate of the impact on risk of accidents leading to agent-related public fatalities was made by expanding the Anniston and Umatilla Phase 1 QRAs to consider the addition of the PFS. The impact of the PFS on worker risk, which is not evaluated in the Anniston and Umatilla Phase 1 QRAs, was estimated by extrapolating the Tooele Phase 2 QRA results (which does include worker risk) to these other facilities. The Phase 1 QRAs for the Anniston and Umatilla facilities were also used to estimate increases in risk to the public from extended storage of the stockpile due to the PFS. Thus, the QRA evaluations completed to date are initial estimates of the magnitude of increased risk to the public from accidental releases of agent re-suiting from the addition of the PFS, but they are not complete evaluations of worker risk. Moreover, the range of potential delays to stockpile destruction caused by permit modifications and physical changes to the current site-specific baseline incineration configurations has not been defined.

Based on these estimates, the Army concluded that "[the] current plan to install and operate the PFS at the ANCDF [Anniston] and the UMCDF [Umatilla] remains the best course of action for maximizing human health and environmental protection," and that the TOCDF should continue to operate without a PFS. The decision to continue with the current configurations at permitted facilities eliminates increases in risks to the public and workers from potential delays in stockpile destruction caused by facility modifications or permit changes. Although worker risk from current PFS configurations is uncertain, based on the available risk estimates and projected schedules, the committee concurs with the Army's conclusion.

Recommendation 3. To minimize increased risks to off-site populations and on-site workers from delays in stockpile destruction, the Army should proceed with the current configurations, which include carbon filtration systems at Anniston and Umatilla, and should continue operations at Tooele, which does not have a carbon filtration system.

Finding 4. Only the Phase 1 Anniston and Umatilla QRAs have been completed. The risk of acute hazards to workers, probably the receptors at greatest risk from a mishap involving the PFS, has not been adequately characterized. Early initiation of the Phase 2 QRAs could identify these risks while facility design and construction are in progress and give the Army greater flexibility to modify facility designs and operating procedures, if necessary.

Recommendation 4a. The site-specific Phase 2 QRAs for Anniston, Umatilla, and Pine Bluff, which would identify and analyze specific failure modes, should include a complete evaluation of worker risk associated with the addition of the pollution abatement system filter system. The Phase 2 QRAs for each site should be initiated as soon as possible and should be completed and reviewed by independent technical experts before systemization of the facilities at Anniston, Umatilla, and Pine Bluff is completed.

Recommendation 4b. A risk management plan should be developed to minimize worker risk during the operation and maintenance of the pollution abatement system filter systems. The evaluation of operating and maintenance risks should include the operational experience of similar systems. If the increased risk to on-site workers is found to be substantial, the Army should consider making modifications, as long as they do not

Suggested Citation:"6 Findings and Recommendations." National Research Council. 1999. Carbon Filtration for Reducing Emissions from Chemical Agent Incineration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9651.
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substantially increase overall worker or public risk from prolonged storage.

Finding 5. If increased worker risks and hazards are identified, it is not clear what steps the Army would take to mitigate them. Nor does the Army have a clear decision basis for balancing reductions in public risk and increases in worker risk.

Recommendation 5. The Army should clarify to the public and facility workers the risk management actions that would be taken if increased worker risks are identified. The Army should also clarify the decision basis for balancing reductions in public risk against increases in worker risk while fulfilling its mandate to protect both workers and the public.

Finding 6. The PFS was assumed to have no effect on concentrations of SOPCs in the HRA calculations for Anniston and Umatilla. The effects of SOPCs emitted from the stacks at these facilities have been estimated to be below the thresholds of regulatory concern without the benefit of the PFS. However, changes from installing a PFS have not been determined in a way that facilitates quantitative comparisons.

Recommendation 6. Future health risk assessments should include estimates of emitted and ambient concentrations of SOPCs, with and without the PFS, for all substances that contribute significantly to the overall risk. Because PFS performance cannot be based on actual measurements, the analysis should consider the implications of reducing emissions to both the method detection limit and the levels indicated by engineering calculations, including quantitative evaluations of the uncertainties associated with each risk estimate. The results, including the acute and latent risks, should be reviewed by independent technical experts. The results should then be presented in a way that facilitates public input to decision making.

Finding 7. Because of the length of time required to complete the preliminary PFS risk assessment, the fact that this evaluation is still incomplete, and the status of construction activities at Anniston and Umatilla, meaningful public involvement in the decision to include the PFS at these sites is no longer possible. The CMP Plan and the CMP Public Involvement Outreach Plan were not effectively implemented during the Army's analysis of the PFS. The lack of public involvement in this process represents a lost opportunity for the Army to develop its CMP and to implement the CMP public outreach process.

Recommendation 7a. The health risk assessment and quantitative risk assessment for Pine Bluff should be completed as quickly as possible and communicated to the public in a timely manner so that there can be meaningful public involvement in the decision process to retain or remove the carbon filter system. The risk assessments should be subject to independent expert review and the findings incorporated into the decision-making process.

Recommendation 7b. The Army should continue to refine its change management process and the change management process public involvement plan. Public involvement should be an integral part of future evaluations of the pollution abatement system filter system, especially at Pine Bluff. The committee repeats its recommendation that the Army involve the public meaningfully in the Chemical Stockpile Disposal Program as a whole.

Suggested Citation:"6 Findings and Recommendations." National Research Council. 1999. Carbon Filtration for Reducing Emissions from Chemical Agent Incineration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9651.
×
Page 49
Suggested Citation:"6 Findings and Recommendations." National Research Council. 1999. Carbon Filtration for Reducing Emissions from Chemical Agent Incineration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9651.
×
Page 50
Suggested Citation:"6 Findings and Recommendations." National Research Council. 1999. Carbon Filtration for Reducing Emissions from Chemical Agent Incineration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9651.
×
Page 51
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This report reviews the Army's evaluation of carbon filters for use in the baseline incineration PAS, as well as the Army's change management process (the Army's tool for evaluating major equipment and operational changes to disposal facilities). In preparing this report, members of the Stockpile Committee evaluated exhaust gas emissions testing at the two operating baseline incineration systems, JACADS and the TOCDF; evaluated the development of the dilute SOPC carbon filter simulation model; and evaluated the conceptual design of a modified PAS with an activated carbon filter. The two major risk assessments conducted for each continental disposal site that use the baseline system, namely, (1) the quantitative risk assessment, which evaluates the risks and consequences of accidental agent releases, and (2) the health risk assessment, which evaluates the potential effects of nonagent emissions on human health and the environment, were also examined.

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