PROGRESS REPORT 2000 

DIOXINS / FURANS

Canadian workgroup co-chair: Sandro Leonardelli
U.S. workgroup co-chair: Nan Gowda

Workgroup Activities and the 4-Step Process

The dioxin workgroup has been very active in the past year. Highlights of this activity include the following:

• A total of seven conference calls were held approximately once a month between December 1999 and September 2000. At the conference calls, workgroup members and sector experts developed and implemented a decision tree process to assess major dioxin/furan source sectors and assign them a GLBTS priority level for workgroup focus. The workgroup is currently in the process of developing detailed plans for implementing reduction projects for sectors designated a high or medium GLBTS priority.
• The workgroup met at the Binational Toxics Strategy Stakeholder Forum in Toronto, Ontario, on May 16, 2000.
• In February 2000, the workgroup decided to form a Burn Barrel subgroup. This subgroup was initiated with a conference call in April 2000, and four subsequent conference calls were held. Recent subgroup efforts have centered on developing a Burn Barrel Strategy document, characterizing State and local regulatory frameworks, and conducting a survey of open burning practices in Ontario.
• A draft U.S. GLBTS Step 1&2: Dioxins and Furans Sources and Regulations report was prepared in May 2000.
• Following the June 2000 public release of the Dioxin Reassessment draft documents for external scientific review, an addendum to the draft Sources and Regulations report was prepared in August 2000.
• A GLBTS Step 3 Dioxins and Furans Reduction Options report was prepared in September 2000.
• The GLBTS Step 1&2 and Step 3 reports were posted on the Binational Toxics Strategy web page on September 29, 2000, and public comments are being solicited.

Reduction Activities

United States

• In June 2000, the U.S. Dioxin Reassessment draft documents for external scientific review were publicly released and made available on the USEPA website.
• In September 2000, the U.S. Dioxin Reassessment Draft Documents for EPA's Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) review were publicly released and made available on the USEPA website.
• The new TRI reporting thresholds for dioxins became effective on January 1, 2000.
• USEPA and EC are jointly evaluating pentachlorophenol (PCP), which contains dioxins/furans impurities, for re-registration.
• The compliance deadline for a 1995 "Maximum Achievable Control Technology" (MACT) regulation for large municipal waste combustors (MWC) is December 2000. A MACT standard for small MWCs has been proposed (1999). EPA estimates that full compliance by all MWCs with the 1995 standards and the proposed 1999 standards will result in annual emissions of about 12 g I-TEQ_DF/year, compared to 1995 estimated MWC emissions of 1,100 g I-TEQ_DF/year (U.S. Dioxin Reassessment Draft Documents for SAB review).

Canada

• Canada Wide Standards (release limits) are being developed for dioxins/furans.
• Recommendations from two Strategic Option Reports for the Canadian iron and steel and wood preserving sectors are in place. Audits against the Codes of Good Practice have been conducted for all PCP wood preservation facilities in Ontario. A report with recommendations is expected by March 2001. Codes of Practice for the iron and steel sector are being finalized for implementation by Ontario steel mills.
• The Canadian (Draft Second Edition) National Inventory of Releases of Dioxins and Furans has been released for public consultation and is posted on the Environment Canada webpage.
• Two Ontario utilities eliminated the use of PCP in wood-treated poles.
• Testing of conventional and EPA-certified wood stoves is being conducted in Canada to investigate releases from the two types of stoves, including dioxins/furans and their relationship with particulate matter.
• To date, two Canadian steel manufacturing facilities that use Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) technology volunteered to conduct stack emission testing to help evaluate the significance of this sector as a source of dioxins/furans. Dofasco has completed testing, and results of testing at Gerdau Courtice are currently under review.
• EC announced that Falconbridge, a base metals smelting facility near Timmins, Ontario, and the Toronto Sick Kids Hospital have volunteered to conduct stack testing under the Volunteer Stack Test Program. The testing is currently in the planning stages.

Progress Toward Challenge Goals

Based on the 1998 Draft Inventory, the United States is clearly on track to meet the GLBTS challenge goal by 2006 (a 75 percent reduction in total releases of dioxin and furans). Additional reductions are expected as full compliance with existing and scheduled regulations on dioxin releases are met. A quantitative estimate of where the U.S. stands with regard to the challenge goal may depend upon new information that is included in the Final U.S. Dioxin Inventory. Canada has made significant progress toward meeting the goal of a 90% reduction in releases of dioxins and furans, achieving a 76% reduction, relative to the 1988 Canadian baseline. Much of the reductions achieved are attributable to the pulp and paper sector after federal regulations were imposed.

Concerns, Challenges, and Next Steps

One of the primary concerns of the dioxin/furan workgroup has been the issue of limited resources and the resulting need to prioritize sources for workgroup reduction efforts. To address this concern, the dioxin workgroup developed a decision tree process for sector analysis. This past year, the workgroup has used the decision tree process to systematically evaluate the major sources of dioxin emissions in the Great Lakes region and assign each sector a GLBTS priority level.

As a result of this process, the workgroup has designated four sectors for initial priority focus in pursuing the GLBTS goal of achieving additional reductions in anthropogenic sources of dioxin emissions in the Great Lakes basin. These sectors include medical waste incineration (in Canada only), backyard trash/open burning, residential wood combustion, and PCP-treated wood (in the U.S. only). The workgroup did not assign a priority level to steel manufacturing (EAF) in the U.S., secondary copper smelting in Canada, or landfill fires in either country due to insufficient data available to fully characterize the significance of these sources in the Great Lakes basin. Priority will be given to collect information for these sectors.

Sectors not designated for priority focus at this time were identified as already having sufficient activities in place to address dioxins/furans, and/or data to show that dioxins/furans were not substances of concern for the sector. For example, municipal waste combustors and medical waste incinerators were not designated high priority in the U.S. due to effective MACT emissions controls that are already in place and a lack of opportunities for further reduction; however, the need for better information on ash management from municipal and medical waste incineration was identified as a follow-up issue for the workgroup. Therefore, next steps for the workgroup will be to continue to develop detailed plans for implementing reduction projects for those sectors designated high or medium priority, to conduct information gathering efforts where necessary, and to encourage coordination of activities and sector-based approaches where applicable. These reduction plans will be implemented as Step 4 of the GLBTS analytical process: Implementing actions to work toward the goal of virtual elimination.