State OKs ethanol plant’s air quality plan

The state Department of Environmental Protection on Friday approved an air quality plan for Northeast Ethanol’s proposed 60-million-gallon-per-year plant in Mayfield, Lackawanna County.

“In issuing this plan approval, we gave careful consideration to the concerns expressed by the public at the meeting we held in September,” Michael Bedrin, DEP’s northeast regional director, said in a news release.

The plan restricts emissions of a list of pollutants, including 53.19 tons of carbon monoxide, 54.04 tons of nitrogen oxides and 35.05 tons of volatile organic compounds per year. The permit requires “best available technology” for emission control.

“I’m tickled to death,” said Rich Scheller, a civil engineer from Scranton who is partnering with several other Northeast Pennsylvania men to develop the project. “We have shown to them that our plant can achieve those minimal standards.”

The plant, however, has received vocal objection from residents, who mounted a successful write-in campaign during this month’s election to oust borough council members in favor of the plant.

The 100-acre site needs a few more permits, including one for water discharge, but Scheller is confident the project is on schedule and the owners are “anxiously hoping to get started in construction as soon as we can.”

After construction, DEP will return to require a “stack test,” DEP spokesman Mark Carmon said. “When they build it, they have to test the emission according to our protocol usually with our people there, some times with our people doing it.”

However, he said, the plant is not considered a “major source” of pollution, so it will not be subject to testing whether its emissions have a cumulative effect in the environment.

If the plant is unable to meet its required levels, it will have a “shakedown” period to fine-tune the process, Carmon said.