General information
Public comment period begins: April 16, 2018
Public comment period ends: May 18, 2018 (4:30 p.m.)
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) Commissioner has made a preliminary determination to issue this permit.
Name and address of Permittee:
EMR USA
143 Harding Ave
Bellmawr, NJ 08031-2430
Name and address of Co-Permittee
Northern Metals LLC 2800 Pacific St
Minneapolis, MN 55411
Facility name and location:
Northern Metals Recycling - Becker
13196 Hancock Street SE
Becker, MN 55308 Sherburne County
MPCA contact person:
Kelsey Suddard Industrial Division
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
520 Lafayette Rd N
St. Paul, MN 55155-4194
Phone: 651-757-2767
Email: kelsey.suddard@state.mn.us
File manager phone: 651-757-2728 or 1-844-828-0942
A draft permit is available for review on the MPCA Public Notices webpage at http://www.pca.state.mn.us/publicnotices or at the MPCA office address listed under the MPCA contact person. The MPCA will mail or email a copy of the draft permit upon request. Comments, petitions, and other requests must be received at the MPCA in writing on or before the public comment period end date and time identified above.
Description of permitted facility
Northern Metals Recycling - Becker is a proposed scrap metal recycling facility. The facility proposes to operates an enclosed shredder, an enclosed metal processing building, an enclosed metal recovery plant (MRP), an end-of-life vehicle (ELV) process, and a community metals receiving center. The main sources of air emissions are the shredder and ferrous processing and fugitive dust from paved roads and material handling. The shredder and ferrous process are each controlled by a cyclone and two fabric filters in series. The shredder is also controlled by a thermal oxidizer. The MRP process is controlled by a fabric filter. Fugitive dust is mitigated by sweeping, watering and other best management practices laid out in the facility's fugitive dust control plan.
As part of this permitting action the Permittee completed and the MPCA reviewed and approved air dispersion modeling for particulate matter less than 10 microns, particulate matter less than 2.5 microns, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and sulfur dioxide and an Air Emissions Risk Analysis (AERA) to evaluate air toxics. The modeling results demonstrated that the potential emissions from the proposed Northern Metals facility do not cause or contribute to a violation of National Ambient Air Quality Standards. The AERA found that the concentrations of air toxics from the proposed Northern Metals facility are below health benchmarks.
The project proposed also prepared an Environmental Assessment Worksheet (EAW) for the project. The EAW is co-noticed with the permit. An electronic version of EAW notice of availability and the EAW are on the MPCA Environmental Review webpage at https://www.pca.state.mn.us/eaw.
The permit action is for the construction and operation of the facility. The permit action is an individual state operating permit; therefore, the draft permit has been placed on public notice.
A summary of the potential to emit (PTE) in tons per year is as follows:
Pollutant: PM > PM10 > PM 2.5 > SO2 > NOx > VOCs > CO > CO2e > HAPs
Total Facility PTE: 142 > 36.9 > 16.9 > 0.05 > 8.65 > 13.9 > 7.37 > 10,3000 > 3.81
PM = Particulate Matter PM10 = PM, 10 microns and smaller
PM2.5 = PM, 2.5 microns and smaller SO2 = Sulfur Dioxide
NOx = Nitrogen Oxides VOCs = Volatile Organic Compounds
CO = Carbon Monoxide CO2e = Carbon Dioxide Equivalents as defined in Minn. R.
7007.0100 HAP = Hazardous Air Pollutant
The Permittee is not require to submit a pollution prevention progress report pursuant to Minn. Stat. § 115D.08
Procedure for public participation
As stated in Minn. R. chs. 7000 and 7001, there are three formal procedures for public participation in the MPCA's consideration of this matter. Interested persons may:
Submit written comments on the draft permit.
Petition the MPCA to hold a public informational meeting.
Petition the MPCA to hold a contested case hearing.
Submitting written comments
To submit comments or petitions to the MPCA through the mail or email, you must state:
Your interest in the permit application or the draft permit.
The action you wish the MPCA to take, including specific references to the section of the draft permit you believe should be changed.
The reasons supporting your position, stated with sufficient specificity as to allow the MPCA to investigate the merits of the position.
Public informational meeting
The MPCA will host a public informational meeting on Thursday May 10, 2018 at the Becker Community Center at 11500 Sherburne Avenue, Becker, Minnesota 55308. The event will begin with an informal open house from 6:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. followed by a presentation from the MPCA and a question and answer session. A public informational meeting is an informal meeting during which interested persons can ask questions concerning the proposed facility. MPCA staff will be present to provide information.
Contested case hearing
A contested case hearing is a formal proceeding before an administrative law judge empowered to advise the MPCA regarding issues of fact. As described in Minn. R. 7000.1800, persons who submit petitions for a contested case hearing must also state the issues they propose to address in a contested case hearing, the specific relief requested or resolution of the matter, and the reasons (which may be in the form of proposed findings) supporting an MPCA decision to hold a contested case hearing. Failure to comply with these rules exactly may result in a denial of the request. To the extent known, the petitioner may also submit a list of prospective witnesses to be called at a hearing, a proposed list of publications, references, or studies to be introduced at a hearing and the approximate time required for the petitioner to present the matter at a hearing. The decision whether to hold a contested case hearing will be made under Minn. R. 7000.1900.
(Published in the Citizen-Tribune: 04/14/18.)
