U.S. EPA confirms Cleveland’s proposed project is indeed an incinerator, not just a ‘gasifier’

CLEVELAND — Over the past year, Mayor Frank Jackson and Cleveland Public Power have repeatedly insisted that their proposed garbage burning facility on Ridge Road is a “gasifier,” not an “incinerator.”  They have taken out full page ads in newspapers to make this point, developed elaborate analogies comparing the proposal to a “toaster,” and argued with citizens holding up “No Cleveland  Incinerator” signs at public meetings.

The citizens of Cleveland weren’t fooled by this, however, and neither was the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.  Last week, U.S. EPA, the agency in charge of regulating the Clean Air Act, wrote a detailed review  of the city’s proposed air pollution permit and confirmed that the project is indeed an incinerator.
This is not just a debate over semantics, because air pollution rules and requirements for incinerators are stricter and more protective of public health than rules for gasifiers.  

Claude Lawrence Cornett, a Cleveland area engineer,  researched the patents for the Kinsei-Sangyo technology that the city based its permit on http://www.patentmaps.com/assignee/Kinsei_Sangyo_1.html and found that they all have the word “incineration” or “incinerating” in their titles.

Cornett goes on to explain:  “Cleveland Public Power, the Cleveland Division of Air Quality, and others, have been scammed by Kinsei Sangyo and their representatives to think that the proposed at the Ridge Road waste treatment plant will use gasifiers and not solid waste incinerators with energy recovery.”

— Sandy Buchanan, Executive Director, Ohio Citizen Action