Great Lakes Binational Toxics Strategy

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Dioxin / Furans

Stakeholders Minutes - March 2, 2004
Draft Workgroup Conference Call Minutes

Workgroup Leaders:
Anita Wong, EC
Erin Newman, EPA

Introduction and Meeting Objectives

Erin Newman began the meeting by reviewing the agenda. The main objective of the conference call was to review the progress made on issue papers since the December stakeholder meeting. Also on the agenda were a Burn Barrel group update and a discussion of workplan milestones developed by Erin and Anita Wong.

December Meeting Minutes: Review and Comments

Erin requested comments on minutes from the December stakeholder meeting. No one proposed changes. Anita reviewed the action items from the December minutes. The first item was to share the PCB presentation and workplan, which has been completed.

The second was to add wood boilers as an issue to the Burn Barrel subgroup’s agenda. The third was for Erin and Anita to develop milestones for the workplan. The fourth was to develop issue papers and characterize sources, which is the main focus of this teleconference.

Issue Papers: Update and Comments

Two issue papers are currently being prepared: one on industrial sources of dioxin, and another on uncontrolled combustion sources. Erin and Anita recently developed criteria to be included in the papers and e-mailed their ideas to the rest of the group. They asked the rest of the group to provide comments on the appropriateness and feasibility of these criteria.

Dale Phenicie suggested that the level of information included in the issue papers may be narrowed to better capture the focus of the group’s effort. Anita responded that they included so much information because they wanted to have an indication of what degree of activity exists for each sector in the Great Lakes Basin. Such information will help the group decide how to manage the issue. Erin and Anita only expect one to two pages on each sector in the region, not a full report.

Regarding the industrial issue paper, the group then discussed sectors that should be included on the list of people to engage. Representatives of some sectors have not participated in the dioxin workgroup up to this point, and it is important to include them in the process. Dale listed sources that have not yet participated in the dioxin workgroup: foundries, clay processing, asphalt mixing, ceramic manufacturing, and textiles. The group went into a more detailed discussion on asphalt mixing plants and information that still needs to be gathered on dioxin production by that industry. The group agreed that information gathering for the industrial issue paper should focus on groups that have not yet been active participants in the dioxin/furan workgroup.

Anita asked Dave Ailor if he had anything that might help Dale on the issue of coke production. Dave has already discussed coke production with Dale and suggested contacting OAQPS for more information. OAQPS has probably already studied these sources in the United States, and sections of AP-42 may address them. The coke industry has already provided OAQPS with a significant amount of information on emissions data.

Dwain pointed out that another good source of data is the emissions inventory. Dave indicated that emissions inventory data is particularly useful, since it goes through a QA/QC process.

Anita concluded the discussion of the industrial issue paper by reminding the group that the purpose of gathering this information is to see how significant each source might be in the Great Lakes Basin and engage these sources in the process. Industrial representatives may be good sources of information because they tend to have greater access to emissions data than the general public does.

Discussion turned to the uncontrolled combustion source issue paper. A consultant has been hired to gather information on these sources, and a report is expected by the end of March. The main purpose of the report will be to assess the level of activity in the eight Great Lakes states plus Ontario. The consultant is working with both Canadian and U.S. contacts to find the appropriate data. The scope of the report covers all uncontrolled combustion sources except for landfill fires, for which information has already been gathered. Erin reiterated that the report will estimate the level of activity in the region and begin to identify priority sources. They are hoping to bring some of this information to the next stakeholder meeting, scheduled for June 17-18 in Toronto.

Burn Barrel Subgroup: Update and Agenda Development

Bruce Gillies provided an update on the activities of the Burn Barrel subgroup. The next Burn Barrel subgroup teleconference is scheduled for Tuesday, March 9. The Burn Barrel Strategy has been finalized, though it can be modified as necessary in the event that new data is presented. The Strategy has been posted at www.openburning.org . The next step for the subgroup is to determine where the Strategy should be distributed. It has already been sent to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. One of the goals of the subgroup has been to develop a consistent approach, and they want to share that approach with others who could possibly benefit from it.

Bruce reviewed the items to be discussed at the March 9 Burn Barrel teleconference. The subgroup will discuss continued work on the Air Defenders Education package that Wisconsin has put together. Other topics include the case studies that Battelle has put together on burn barrels, an Ontario survey on burning, and the subject of outdoor boilers (small, wood-burning furnaces used to heat water). Bruce then solicited suggestions for other items to be put on the agenda. Anita raised the issue of commercial burning of garbage. Bruce agreed that commercial burning is relevant when it involves open burning, but they are not looking at incinerators. Erin informed the group that Minnesota is conducting a Lake Superior dioxin inventory project and suggested that the project be added as a future topic for the subgroup, as it could lead to outreach for small businesses.

Workplan Milestones: Discussion and Review

Erin and Anita updated the group on their progress in developing milestone dates for items in the workplan. By the next meeting (June), they plan to have a good portion of the issue papers prepared for discussion so that they can begin working on the next steps: gathering additional information and engaging sectors. Within the same time frame, they also plan to prepare a release inventory of Ontario and the eight Great Lakes states. By the fall of 2004, they would like to review coplanar PCB information and look for any additional information that may be available. They also plan to compare the U.S. and Canadian ambient air monitoring systems and present data on dioxin/furans by November. Also for the November meeting in Chicago, they plan to prepare a list of priority sectors for the Great Lakes Basin based on the inventory and issue papers so that the group can explore other opportunities for information collection or reduction projects and identify activities to engage priority sectors. At that time, they also want to meet with the PCB workgroup on a possible joint work to address coplanar PCBs. For 2005 they plan to continue source characterization, reduction projects, and reporting environmental data trends. Erin and Anita will e-mail these milestone dates to workgroup members.

Action Items

Erin requested comments on agenda items to be included for the June stakeholder meeting. Reviewing issue papers will most likely consume the bulk of the meeting time. Dwain suggested accelerating review of the dioxin monitoring data.

John Menkedick reminded the group that two agenda items from the last meeting had not been discussed. The first, getting a speaker from the FDA to talk about dioxin exposure through food, has not been finalized yet due to schedule conflicts. The second, arranging a joint HCB/BAP group meeting, may not be necessary, as there should be time during the next workgroup meeting to overlap the groups.

Participant Roster

Todd Abel, Chlorine Chemistry Council
Dave Ailor, Coke Institute
Shelly Bonte-Gelok, Ontario Ministry of the Environment
Bruce Gillies, Environment Canada
Tom Hornshaw, Illinois EPA
John Menkedick, Battelle Memorial Institute
Chris Neurath, Burnbarrel.org
Erin Newman, USEPA
Dale Phenicie, Council of Great Lakes Industry
Dwain Winters, USEPA
Anita Wong, Environment Canada
Jennifer Zewatsky, Battelle Memorial Institute