Questions and Answers

What is the plant going to treat?

What is the plant going to treat?
Bennett has applied to treat 100,000 tonnes (metric tons) of soil and solids contaminated with hydrocarbons and creosote only: no toxic waste, no chlorinated compounds, no PCBs, no medical waste.

What are hydrocarbons and creosote?
A non-chlorinated hydrocarbon is an organic compound containing only carbon and hydrogen and often occurs in petroleum, natural gas, coal and bitumen. The Bennett facility will be treating soil contaminated with non-chlorinated hydrocarbons.

A chlorinated hydrocarbon is the same as a non-chlorinated hydrocarbon except that it contains chlorine. Examples of chlorinated hydrocarbons are: polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and dioxins and furans. The Bennett facility will not be treating soil contaminated with chlorinated hydrocarbons.

Creosote is a brownish oily liquid consisting chiefly of aromatic hydrocarbons obtained by distillation of wood tar and used especially as a wood preservative. There are no chlorinated compounds in creosote. The Bennett facility will be treating soil contaminated with creosote.

What sites require Bennett’s services?
Soils get contaminated from spillage or by the underground migration of contaminants. Hydrocarbons contained namely in petroleum products may originate from leaking underground or above ground storage tanks. Creosote has been widely used to preserve telephone posts and railway ties. Such manufacturers are among Bennett’s largest clients.

What facilities similar to Bennett exist?
Bennett developed and built the thermal oxidation process used at its Québec facility. Even though it is not an incinerator, Bennett currently competes against 6 incineration facilities in North America. Bennett specializes in the treatment of contaminated soils and solids only. These other facilities can treat solids and liquids contaminated with a wider range of contaminants. In Canada, Earth Tech’s thermal treatment centre in Swan Hills, Alberta can treat annually about 20,000 tonnes of soil. In the USA, Clean Harbors owns and operates three incinerators in Nebraska, Texas and Utah. Onyx Environmental Services operates two incinerators in Illinois and Texas. Finally, Ross Environmental in Ohio is a small facility, with a treatment capacity of less than 10,000 tonnes.

What is the difference between incineration and high temperature thermal oxidation?
Incineration is a technology that reduces material mass and volume through burning at high temperatures.

High temperature thermal treatment is a technology that separates the contaminants from the material and destroys the contaminant through burning at high temperatures. The material (soil) is not reduced in volume.

Is all storage indoors?
Yes, all feedstock material received in bulk at the site will be stored indoors pending treatment in segregated piles based on the origin of the waste. However, in the case of pre-packaged materials (e.g. shipping containers), material may be stored outdoors in its container as long as the containment has not been breached. Treated materials, while awaiting confirmation of treatment efficiency according to laboratory analysis, will also be stored indoors.

Exactly what will be emitted from the proposed facility?
The emissions will mostly consist of water vapour and CO₂, in addition to other compounds that will be emitted in much smaller quantitites. The table below shows estimated emissions from the Bennett facility. These estimated emissions are an overestimate of what will actually be emitted and were used in the air quality assessment and human health risk assessment.

Particulate Matter is any material that exists as a solid or liquid in the atmosphere that are less than 10 microns (1 micron = 1 micrometre = 0.000 001 metre).

Sulphur Oxides are mainly emitted by fossil fuel combustion. There are two major oxides: sulphur dioxide (SO₂) and sulphur trioxide (SO₃).

Nitrogen Oxides is a term used to refer to two species of oxides of nitrogen: nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO₂). Man-made emissions are mainly due to fossil fuel burning.

Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) are carbon-containing compounds that evaporate easily into air at normal air temperatures. VOCs are contained in a wide variety of commercial, industrial and residential products including fuel oils, gasoline, solvents, cleaners and degreasers, paints, inks, and dyes.

Carbon Monoxide (CO) is a colourless gas or liquid, practically odourless. It is produced by the incomplete burning of solid, liquid and gaseous fuels. Appliances fuelled with natural gas, oil, kerosene, coal or wood may produce CO. Burning charcoal produces CO. Running cars produce CO.

How is the contaminated soil contained during transport?
Contaminated soil will be transported by truck, rail or ship, depending on the where the material is coming from. No matter the type of transport, Bennett will ensure that each shipment of material is properly classified according to the appropriate American law (US EPA 40 CFR 261) and the Canadian Transportation of Dangerous Goods Regulations or equivalent, which will be verified by Bennett on a Waste Profile Questionnaire (WPQ). By law, all shipping manifests must be supplied to the government to be verified.

Will the Belledune facility treat PCBs?
Bennett Environmental Inc. will not be treating PCB’s at the plant being constructed in Belledune.