New engines would increase capacity of waste-to-energy facility
A waste-to-energy facility that burns gas generated by the Countryside landfill in Grayslake is seeking state permission to replace its engines to increase capacity.
Genco, located across the street from the landfill on Route 83 north of Peterson Road, converts gas generated by the landfill into electricity.
According to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, Genco has submitted an application for a construction permit to replace six engines at the facility with four Rolls-Royce Allison turbines that would increase the amount of landfill gas it could use.
The IEPA will host a public meeting on the proposal by Countryside Genco at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 25 at Grayslake Central High School, 400 N. Lake St.
Though not a public hearing, any action regarding an IEPA permit requires a public information component, according to Maggie Carson, IEPA spokeswoman.
“They have to tell us what type of equipment they’re going to use, the number, the capacity if they modify that equipment — it’s incumbent on the permit holder to formally notify us,” she said. “What we’re trying to do is be a little more open with upcoming meeting information.”
Comments are being accepted through Nov. 8. Visit http://www.epa.gov.
This request from Genco is considered noncontroversial by neighbors who have been filing odor complaints for years.
“We’re not contesting it at this time. It looks good on the face,” says Barbara Klipp, a resident in the nearby Prairie Crossing neighborhood, who has been active in matters involving the facilities.
Genco is considered the primary control device for the landfill, where flares burn off any gas that can’t be used by the waste-to-energy facility.
“If they can take all the landfill gas and turn it into energy without flaring it off, that seems to be a good thing,” Klipp said.
Decomposing drywall materials accepted at the landfill for most of 2008 have been the suspected cause of increases hydrogen sulfide, which when burned, produce sulfur dioxide. The materials no longer are accepted at the landfill but the odor complaints have continued.
Countryside and Genco separately also have applied for IEPA permission to increase the permitted limits for sulfur dioxide emissions. Those applications are pending results of air quality monitoring.
In a separate but related matter, an administrative consent order was filed this past summer by the U.S. EPA citing Genco for being out of compliance by burning landfill gas with elevated levels of sulfur compounds.
A compliance program outlines requirements for maintenance and monitoring.