Tabular presentation of sources of dioxin in Maine
August 2001
Two vexing questions related to dioxin are, how much is entering our environment, and where is it coming from? The table below represents the best available estimates of amounts and pathways of dioxin entering our environment from sources within Maine. It is based partly on the best available data on known emissions, partly on mathematical models. The result is that some of the data has a high assurance of being an accurate estimate, some less so. It does not attempt to estimate the total amount of dioxin entering Maine’s environment from other sources such as food coming into the state, or air emissions originating elsewhere. Noted with each summary are DEP contacts most familiar with how the estimates were generated.
Maine dioxin inventory summary---air emissions.
Contact: David Wright, 287-2437
Source |
Grams TEQ |
Percentage |
Confidence* |
Residential; bituminous |
0.0136 |
0.09 |
L/L |
Residential; #2 fuel oil |
0.182 |
1.18 |
H/L |
Residential wood combustion |
3.17 |
20.55 |
M/L |
Back Yard Burning |
4.05 |
26.25 |
M/M |
Sub Total/Residential combustion |
7.4156 |
48.06 |
|
Wood, industrial non P&P mills |
0.177 |
1.15 |
H/M |
Residual Commercial Oil |
0.0328 |
0.21 |
H/L |
Wood - P&P Mills |
2.88 |
18.67 |
H/M |
Tire waste combustion (Paper mills) |
0.00509 |
0.03 |
M/L |
Sub Total/Commercial & industrial |
3.09489 |
20.06 |
|
Wood – Utility |
1.1 |
7.13 |
H/M |
Oil-Fired Utility Boilers |
.0401 |
0.26 |
H/L |
Sub Total/Utility Boilers |
1.1401 |
7.39 |
|
Municipal waste incinerators |
1.95 |
12.64 |
H/M |
Medical Waste Incinerators |
1.68 |
10.89 |
L/L |
Crematories |
0.00263 |
0.01 |
H/L |
Cement Production, Wet Process |
0.109 |
0.71 |
H/L |
Chlorine production |
.00000000902 |
0.00 |
|
On Road Vehicles |
0.372 |
0.24 |
H/L |
Sub Total/Other |
4.11363 |
24.5 |
|
TOTAL FOR AIR EMISSIONS |
15.42942 |
100.00 |
|
* Confidence has two components. The first is confidence in the activity level (e.g., how much wood is burned); the second is confidence in the measured data or emission factor used to generate the TEQ number.
Maine dioxin inventory summary---solid waste
Contact: Jim Glasgow, 822-6358
Source |
Grams TEQ |
Percentage |
Confidence* |
Solid waste incinerators (ash) |
34.11 |
96 |
H/M |
Pulp & paper mills (sludge) |
.923 |
0.03 |
H/L |
Pulp & paper mills (bioash & woodash) |
.070 |
0.00 |
H/L |
Sewage Treatment plant sludge |
0.060 |
0.00 |
H/H |
Biomass power generation (woodash) |
0.074 |
0.00 |
H/L |
Tannery, textile and other wastewater treatment (sludge) |
Unkown |
Unkown |
H/unk |
Cement production (kiln dust) |
Unkown |
Unkown |
unk/H |
Sub Total for solid waste landfilled |
35.24 |
99.995 |
|
Solid waste incinerators (ash) |
0.00 |
0.00 |
H/M |
Pulp & paper mills (sludge) |
0.009 |
0.00 |
H/H |
Pulp & paper mills (bioash & woodash) |
0.005 |
0.00 |
H/H |
Sewage Treatment plant sludge |
0.132 |
0.004 |
H/H |
Biomass power generation (woodash) |
0.013 |
0.00 |
H/L |
Tannery, textile and other wastewater treatment (sludge) |
0.00 |
0.00 |
H/H |
Cement production (kiln dust) |
Unkown |
Unkown |
unk/H |
Sub Total for solid waste reused |
0.159 |
.005 |
|
TOTAL FOR SOLID WASTE |
35.396 |
100 |
|
* Confidence has two components. The first is confidence in the activity level (e.g., how much sludge is spread); the second is confidence in the measured data or emission factor used to generate the TEQ number.
Maine dioxin inventory summary---water discharges
Contact: Barry Mower, 287-3901
Source |
Grams TEQ |
Percentage |
Confidence* |
Municipal wastewater discharges |
trace |
trace |
H/L |
Pulp & paper mill discharges |
2.3 |
91 |
H/M |
Other industrial discharges |
est. 0.01 |
<1 |
H/L |
Non point source discharges |
0.2 |
8 |
L/L |
TOTAL FOR WATER DISCHARGE |
2.5 |
100 |
|
* Confidence has two components. The first is confidence in the activity level (e.g., volume of wastewater discharged); the second is confidence in the measured data or emission factor used to generate the TEQ number.
