French Island Incinerator
Background: Northern States Power's (or Xcel's) French Island incinerator in La Crosse, Wisconsin, is the largest municipal waste incinerator in the state. It is located amidst the bluffs, forest, and farmland of the Mississippi River and uses a short stack to deliver its toxic emissions to the surrounding environment. The incinerator is a significant source of dioxin and mercury, and has violated its state-issued operating permit almost every year since 1989. Yet, the DNR has never penalized the company in any way.
The 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act required the EPA to make the standards and guidelines for municipal waste incinerators stricter because these sources contribute air pollution that may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health or welfare. Emissions from the French Island incinerator contain organics (dioxins/furans), metals (cadmium, lead, mercury, particulate matter, and opacity), acid gases (Hcl and sulfur dioxide), and nitrogen oxide. These mercury and dioxin emissions are of particular concern because of their tendency to bioaccumulate as they move up the food chain.
On December 19, 1995, the EPA created new standards for plants, such as the French Island incinerator, that were constructed on or before September 20, 1994 and burn over 35 tons of garbage per day. A court order modified this rule on August 25, 1997, and applied it only to "large" incinerators that burn over 250 tons per day.
In the mid-1990s Northern States Power (NSP) applied for a federal Title V operating permit. In that permit application, the company claimed that its boilers could burn up to 12 tons per hour of RDF - Refuse Derived Fuel - in other words, shredded municipal garbage. This means that the incinerator can burn 288 tons per day and should fit into the "large" category.
Yet, NSP claims it is falls into the "small" category, a category that is conveniently unregulated by federal law. In March of 1997, the EPA sent a letter to NSP approving NSP's assertion that it is a small incinerator not subject to the new restrictions on toxic emissions. Several months later, in September of 1997, the DNR sent a letter to the EPA certifying that it had no large municipal waste incinerators in the state.
Midwest Environmental Advocates investigated this facility and found that it is, contrary to company assertions, a large incinerator and must install new technology to control its toxic emissions, stop burning garbage, or cease operations. MEA toured the incinerator in April of 2000 and created a video showing all the points in the system that make it a large incinerator. MEA convinced the EPA to reopen its investigation of the incinerator and reconsider its decision on the applicability of the regulations. At the end of October, 2000, the EPA determined that the incinerator is "large" and must comply with more stringent federal standards by December 19, 2000.
In April of 2001, MEA, on behalf of Wisconsin's Environmental Decade, filed a Notice of Intent to sue Xcel for violating the federal Clean Air Act. The EPA then got involved and negotiated a settlement with Xcel. On June 18, 2003, the EPA filed its notice of the proposed settlement in Federal Court for the Western District of Wisconsin. On its face, the proposed settlement appeared to not hold Xcel adequately accountable for violating the Clean Air Act.
On June 20, 2002, MEA submitted comments to the DNR on the Title V draft permit for Xcel's French Island Incinerator on behalf of Kickapoo Valley Stewardship Alliance, Northern Thunder, Sierra Club- John Muir Chapter, Sierra Club Midwest Region, Wisconsin Environmental Decade, and Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group.
Status: On October 21, 2003 District Judge Barbara Crabb signed a consent decree that required installation of pollution control equipment for the French Island incinerator and payment of $500,000 for operating the facility in violation of the Clean Air Act. MEA had previously submitted comments arguing that the consent decree was inadequate because the civil penaty was too low, it lacked a supplemental environmnental project to compensate the local community, and it failed to sufficiently address the incinerators ongoing carbon monoxide violations.
To read a MEA's comments on the consent decree, click here.
To read the consent decree, click here.
Recent Media:
Judge accepts EPA, Xcel settlement over French Island plant
The LaCrosse Tribune
October 24, 2003
Judge approves EPA, Xcel settlement
The LaCrosse Tribune
October 23, 2003
Environmental groups challenge Xcel fine
The LaCrosse Tribune
August 6, 2003
EPA, Xcel near deal on French Island Poluution
The LaCrosse Tribune
May 10, 2003
Xcel deal funds household hazardous waste disposal
The LaCrosse Tribune
August 28, 2002
Activists: Demand proof of cleanup from Xcel
The LaCrosse Tribune
July 25, 2002
Xcel opens doors amid concerns
The LaCrosse Tribune
July 24, 2002
Comment period ending; environmental groups work on
The LaCrosse Tribune
June 30, 2002
Health Officials Want Food Supply Tested for Toxins
La Crosse Tribune
June 30, 2002
"Wisconsin public health officials want to know whether toxic emissions from the French Island incinerator are getting into the food supply and increasing people's risk of cancer."
Guest Opinion by Winona La Duke: Dioxin and breast milk: the Xcel incinerator
La Crosse Tribune
June 21, 2002
"As hearings are under way on the French Island incinerator, I am sure that the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Agency should shut down the incinerator because of its long-term impact on public health internationally."
Xcel Seeks Permit; Environmentalists Fired Up about Emissions
La Crosse Tribune
June 3, 2002
"Xcel Energy's French Island Station is one of Wisconsin's most toxic power plants, environmentalists charged this week after the government released its latest toxic pollution estimates."
Burning of used railroad crossties at Xcel plant spawns pollution questions
La Crosse Tribune
February 17, 2002
Xcel takes pollution control steps, but not fast enough for some
La Crosse Tribune
January 13, 2002
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