March 30, 2007 by admin.

Excessive flaring at Fort Saskatchewan refinery

Posted in Emission Incidents & Issues | Print | No Comments »

March 28, 2007 by admin.

People’s Daily Online

China’s power plants to cut sulfur dioxide emissions by two thirds

China plans to cut sulfur dioxide (SO2) discharges from its coal-fired power plants by 62 percent by 2010 in an effort to reduce air pollution.

The realization of the target was vital to clean up the air and reach the goal set by the government in its 11th five-year plan to cut nationwide discharges of SO2 by 10 percent by 2010, said an official with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) on Tuesday.

The SO2 discharged by coal-fueled power generators is expected to drop from 13 million tons in 2005 to 5.02 million tons in 2010, according to a plan released by NDRC and the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA).

China saw its SO2 emissions jump by 1.8 percent last year to total 25.94 million tons, down from the 13.1 percent growth a year ago. The power sector contributes more than half of the total pollutants, NDRC figures show.

The NDRC called for open and fair distribution of the discharge licenses to power firms and tax incentives for companies equipped with desulfurization facilities. ….(Full Story)
_____________________
Note by folc.ca:
China’s total annual SO2 emissions roughly equal the amount of SO2 that would be produced if 43 percent of the World’s current waste-sulphur inventory (sulphur blocks) would go up in flames.

Posted in Emission Incidents & Issues, Sulphur-Dioxide | Print | No Comments »

March 27, 2007 by admin.

Saipan Tribune [Marianas]

Department of Health issues sulfur hazard guidelines

DPH issues sulfur hazard guidelines.

The Department of Public Health Division of Public Health, in collaboration with the Emergency Management Office, has issued guidelines to help people understand the hazards from volcanic sulfur.

The table provides information on the 24-Hour Sulfur Level, its level of health concerns and cautionary statements. DPH said the EMO would continuously release data and information to the public regarding the sulfur level in the Commonwealth. (Source Article)

Posted in Explosions & Fires, Pollution: Health Issues, Emission Incidents & Issues | Print | No Comments »

March 27, 2007 by admin.

WALB News 10

Bainbridge [South Georgia] — An explosion at a Bainbridge sulfur plant ignited a huge fire Monday afternoon. Firefighters from several departments battled the blaze.

No one was hurt, and no one who lives near the plant was evacuated [on account of the wind blowing the right way, “towards a less populated area” — folc.ca
], but with a plant full of toxic chemicals, a disaster was narrowly avoided. ….(Full Story)

The following contains photos and a video:

Fire causes major damage at sulfur plant
By BRENNAN LEATHERS, News Writer; The Post-Searchlight, 2007 03 26

Posted in Explosions & Fires, Emission Incidents & Issues, Sulphur Logistics, Sulphur-Dioxide | Print | No Comments »

March 23, 2007 by admin.

Press release: K-Line announces shift to Low Sulfur Fuel in the Pacific Northwest

Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. (”K” Line), one of the world’s largest ocean transportation companies and an industry leader in environmental stewardship, announced that all container vessels in “K” Line’s Pacific Northwest service, calling at Tacoma, WA and Vancouver, B.C. will use low sulfur fuel in auxiliary machinery while the vessels are docked at Pacific Northwest ports. (Full Story)
________________
Note by folc.ca: It goes without saying that, when in motion, those ships are using highly polluting bunker fuel that contains extremely high levels (20,000 ppm and more) of sulphur. See next article for more on that. The photo (above) and the related story show that K-Lines’ boast, of being “an industry leader in environmental stewardship” is the motivating force for using lower-sulphur fuel in auxiliary engines when in or in the vicinity of ports in the Pacific Northwest, is perhaps justified only when it is being forced through legislation to become environmentally clean.

The California legislation that forces K-Lines to become “an industry leader in environmental stewardship” in the Pacific Northwest came into effect in January 2007.

Posted in Bunker Fuel, Ultra-Low-Sulphur Diesel | Print | No Comments »

March 23, 2007 by admin.

A study finds that while land vehicles are cutting emissions, seafaring vessels are spewing sulfur oxide ‘virtually unchecked.’

By Janet Wilson, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

Ocean-going vessels produce greater quantities of sulfur oxide air pollutants than all the world’s cars, trucks and buses combined, according to a study released Thursday.

The report by the International Council on Clean Transportation calls for international regulators to move aggressively to curb emissions from “bunker fuel” used by freight vessels that contains an average 27,000 parts per million of sulfur. U.S. standards for diesel trucks and other vehicles limit sulfur fuels to just 15 parts per million to protect public health. One kind of sulfur oxide, sulfur dioxide, can quickly kill if too much is inhaled rapidly. Chronic exposure to lower levels has been linked to respiratory problems. (Full Story)
_______________
Note by folc.ca: The article constitutes somewhat shoddy journalism. Diesel locomotives use bunker fuel, too.

Posted in Bunker Fuel, Emission Incidents & Issues, Ultra-Low-Sulphur Diesel, Sulphur-Dioxide | Print | No Comments »

March 23, 2007 by admin.

MercuryNews.com
The Associated Press

TORRANCE, Calif.- Toxic fumes were released from an oil refinery but nobody was injured, authorities said.

Hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide were released into flares at the ExxonMobil Torrance Refinery after the plant south of Los Angeles had a problem with its sulfur recovery unit and shut down shortly after 8 a.m. Thursday, officials said.

The flare system acts as a “safety relief valve” for the refinery that combines liquid and vapors with steam and burns it off, according to information on the refinery’s Web site.

The gas level at the ground did not pose a health hazard, refinery spokeswoman Melba Duarte said.  (Full Story)

Posted in Pollution: Health Issues, Emission Incidents & Issues, Hydrogen-Sulphide, Sulphur-Dioxide | Print | No Comments »

March 15, 2007 by admin.

http://www.portworld.com; 15 Mar 2007, 14:43 GMT

The public sector and several service companies operating vessels in the port of Rotterdam have expressed a joint intention to switch to low-sulphur fuel for their vessels within the foreseeable future.

The fuel involved is EN 590, which is used in trucks and has less than 10 parts per million (ppm) of sulphur, the Port of Rotterdam Authority (PoR) announced today.

At the moment, 2,000 ppm is the legal upper limit for fuel used by inland shipping….(Full Story)

Posted in Emission Incidents & Issues, Ultra-Low-Sulphur Diesel | Print | No Comments »

March 15, 2007 by admin.

Washington Group International to Perform Clean-Air Retrofit Services at Allegheny Energy Power Plant

PR-inside; 2007-03-15 17:16:53

BOISE, Idaho and MORGANTOWN, W.Va., March 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Washington Group International announced today that it has been selected to provide engineering, procurement, and construction services for a major environmental project at Allegheny Energy’s Fort Martin Power Station near Maidsville, W.Va. This initiative is part of Allegheny’s extensive environmental stewardship program to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions.

As part of the $550 million project, Washington Group will provide engineering, procurement, and construction services for flue-gas desulfurization systems (scrubbers) at the 1,107-megawatt power plant. The scrubbers will be designed to remove more than 90 percent of the sulfur dioxide emissions from the station. In addition to the environmental benefits of the project, the system will enable the power plant to burn more local, high-sulfur coal. The retrofit is expected to be operational in 2009….(Full Story)

Posted in Emission Incidents & Issues, Sulphur Logistics, Sulphur-Related Construction Costs, Sulphur-Dioxide | Print | No Comments »

March 8, 2007 by admin.

The Sofia Weekly

Detected levels of of SO₂ were 300 micrograms per cubic meter over permissible levels.  The article does not state what the permissible levels are in Bulgaria.  However, 300 µg m³ alone are a little short of Alberta’s limit for SO₂ content in ambient air, 450 µg m³ for a one-hour average.  At that limit pulmonary function will be affected.  At a 150 µg m³ for a one-hour average, begonias, bluegrass, aspens and forests will be harmed.   If the upper limit for SO₂ content in ambient air in Bulgaria is the same as it is in Alberta, then the people of Galabovo were put at a serious risk of having to breathe air containing 750 µg m³ for a one-hour average.  The article does not state whether any of Galbovo’s residents got sick or worse.
The high levels of SO₂ detected in the centre of Galabovo were caused by two nearby power generating plants. (Story)

________________
Note by folc.ca: It makes one scared to know that residents of towns like Bruderheim and Lamont don’t have air-quality monitors in the centers of their communities, right?

Update 2007 03 29:

Sulphur dioxide level in Bulgaria’s Galabovo is not above the norm

FOCUS News Agency

Galabovo. The automatic measuring device put in downtown Galabovo (Southern Bulgaria) did not read high levels of sulphur dioxide in the town, the State Agency “Civil Protection” at the Bulgarian Ministry of State Policy for Disaster and Accidents told Focus Agency.
At 16.00 the sulphur dioxide rate in the air was within the norm, which is 500 micrograms per cubic meter. [The limit in Alberta is 450 µg m³ for a one-hour average.  At that limit pulmonary function will be affected. — folc.ca]
The teams of the State Agency stopped their work. (Source and more info)

__________________
Related stories:

• Sulphur Dioxide Poisons Bulgarian Village
• Enel Defends Position over Sulphur Dioxide Pollution in Bulgarian Village
• Clean Coal Processing (SO2 removal)

Posted in Pollution: Health Issues, Emission Incidents & Issues, Sulphur-Dioxide | Print | No Comments »