On behalf of Hennepin County, Covanta Energy is proposing that the Hennepin Energy Recovery Center (HERC) be allowed to operate at capacity, increasing the amount of electricity and steam produced at the facility. This would increase the actual amount of waste processed at HERC by 40,000 tons per year.

Permit Modification and Environmental Assessment Worksheet

Hennepin County has submitted an application to modify the operating permit for HERC together with an air emissions modeling report to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA). Parallel to the MPCA's review of the permit modification request, the MPCA intends to conduct an environmental review in the form of an Environmental Assessment Worksheet (EAW). Over the past two years, the county has worked with the MPCA to provide information for the EAW, permit modification and air emission modeling. The air dispersion modeling that has been conducted for the permit modification application, as well as the Human Health Risk Assessment that is being prepared for the MPCA to incorporate into its EAW, are of the same depth and scope as they would have been if prepared for an Environmental Impact Statement.

Environmental Review Process

The permit modification application and all requested data have been submitted to the MPCA. After the MPCA has completed the air emissions modeling and issues an EAW, the environmental review process will begin. The agency will issue an announcement in the EQB Monitor when the EAW is complete and schedule a public comment period of at least 30 days, including at least one public meeting. The MPCA will respond to comments.

The MPCA project manager then completes a document called the Findings of Fact, recommending to the MPCA commissioner whether or not to require an EIS. The MPCA Citizens' Board makes the final decision about the EAW and whether an EIS is warranted.

See the MPCA's EAW factsheet for more information about this process.

Documents

The documents related to this application are posted on the MPCA website. These documents are posted for preliminary review and are subject to change by the MPCA. 

About the proposal

The additional waste that would be processed at HERC is a small fraction of all the waste generated in the county - 40,000 tons of waste represents less than 3 percent of the total amount of waste generated in the county. This is waste from homes and businesses that have already separated out recyclables. Processing additional waste would reduce the amount of waste sent to landfills. In 2011, 360,000 tons of garbage generated in Hennepin County was disposed of in landfills. 

Processing waste at HERC is just one component of the county’s integrated solid waste management system. The county’s top priority is to help residents and businesses reduce, reuse and recycle even more than they already do. Strategies that the county will implement to meet our new recycling goals are outlined in the recently updated Solid Waste Management Master Plan.

The county has also identified programs that could be implemented to offset air emissions from processing additional waste.

Benefits of using the capacity of HERC

The proposal will allow the county to:

  • Reduce the amount of waste landfilled.
  • Comply with Minnesota state law and waste management policy. Processing additional waste at HERC will increase the county's compliance with the Waste Management Act. The state law establishes a hierarchy for waste management practices that places preference on using waste-to-energy technology over sending waste to landfills.  
  • Provide additional electricity and stream for the downtown Minneapolis area.
  • Increase recycling of metal that otherwise would not have been recycled.
  • Maximize the efficiency and amount of energy produced at the plant by allowing the facility to operate at its designed capacity.
  • Generate additional revenue to fund improvements to recycling and composting programs.
  • Reduce the combustion of fossil fuels, which will offset air emissions from burning coal, oil and natural gas at other power plants.
  • Save taxpayers' dollars by offsetting the purchase of oil and natural gas at the Hennpin County Energy Center, which heats and cools public buildings in downtown Minneapolis.