Home » Toxic Exposure Reduction » Waelz and Health
Waelz Sustainable Products, a joint venture of Zinc Nacional and Heritage Environmental, has proposed a new factory in Muncie that will produce zinc oxide and iron from electric arc furnace dust, which is a waste product from steel mills.
They are proposing to build on the site of the former BorgWarner factory at 5401 W. Kilgore Ave in Muncie, Indiana.
The factory would use the ‘Waelz process’ of heating the dust with a carbon source (either coal or coke) to a very high temperature and then collecting the zinc oxide out of the exhaust. Waelz Sustainable Products is proposing to process 360,000 tons of electric arc furnace dust per year, or about one thousand tons per day.
Waelz Emissions
The Waelz process produces air pollutants. The air permit application Waelz Sustainable Products submitted to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) has the company’s own estimates for what its air emissions will be. The estimates for lead and carbon monoxide emissions vary between different sections of the permit. Read more about the Waelz emissions and the potential health effects.
table.tableizer-table {
font-size: 12px;
border: 1px solid #CCC;
font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
}
.tableizer-table td {
padding: 4px;
margin: 3px;
border: 1px solid #CCC;
}
.tableizer-table th {
background-color: #104E8B;
color: #FFF;
font-weight: bold;
}
| Pollutantin tons per year | “Facility-Wide Potential Emissions” page 12 | “Potential to Emit” page 58 | “Potential HAP emissions from the Waelz Kilns” page 218 |
|---|
| carbon monoxide | 169.2 | 181.43 | 181.43 |
| nitrogen oxides | 140.02 | 140.02 | |
| coarse particulate matter (PM10) | 163.2 | 163.2 | |
| fine particulate matter (PM2.5) | 160.78 | 160.78 | |
| sulfur dioxide | 19.35 | 19.35 | |
| volatile organic compounds | 17.35 | 17.35 | |
| cadmium | | | 0.05 |
| lead | <0.5 | 0.93 | 0.63 |
| mercury | | | 0.77 |
| vanadium | | | 0.05 |
Lead Emissions
Waelz Sustainable Products has requested a permit to emit 1,000 pounds of lead to the air per year, though their air permit application states that the facility will have a potential to emit up to 1,800 pounds per year. Lead tends to settle out of the air in the first few miles, and lead is a forever pollutant that doesn’t break down over time. If 1000 pounds are emitted this year and again next year and the next, the lead will accumulate and the soil nearby will get increasingly contaminated.
Mercury Emissions
Waelz Sustainable Products, as proposed, would have the potential to emit 1,540 pounds of mercury per year. According to the US Toxics Release Inventory, that would be the highest mercury emissions of any industrial facility in the country. The next highest emits 1,277 pounds per year and the next after that is Waelz’s sister steel dust facility in Alabama with 1,139.
Dioxins and Furans
The Waelz process is known to release dioxins and furans to the air. Dioxins and furans are chemical byproducts of high temperature processes, and they cause cancer and can interfere with hormones and the immune system.
Where the dioxins and furans wound up would depend on the height of the smoke stack and whether they were bound to particles.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Waelz Sustainable Products’ air permit application states that the facility will have the following emissions of greenhouse gases (page 217):
| tons per year, potential emissions | global warming potential | Total warming potential |
|---|
| carbon dioxide | 417,932 | 1 | 417,932 |
| methane | 0.97 | 30 | 29.1 |
| nitrous oxide | 0.1 | 270 | 27 |
| | | 417,988 |