EPA Region 5 is entering into an Administrative Consent Order (ACO) with Decorative Panels International, Inc. (DPI), Alpena, Michigan, to address violations regarding the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for Plywood and Composite Wood Products (PCWP) at 40 C.F.R. Part 63, Subpart DDDD.
On November 1, 2018, and March 14 and 15, 2019, DPI conducted performance tests at its No. 1 Biofilter which showed that DPI was violating the NESHAP for PCWP by failing to demonstrate compliance with at least one of the six compliance options of Table 1B to Subpart DDDD at its No. 1 Press. DPI conducted a subsequent performance test of the No. 1. Biofilter on August 20-22, 2019, which demonstrated DPI had achieved compliance with the required emissions limits.
This ACO requires DPI to implement several corrective actions designed to maximize performance and reliability of the No. 1 and No. 3 Biofilters at the Alpena facility, including installation of water sprays, a knockout vessel to reduce water carryover into the biofilters, seek to hire a biofilter manager to focus efforts on monitoring, inspecting, and tending to the biofilters, acquire and keep in inventory one complete change of biofilter media at all times, and conduct a moisture monitoring study to determine if real-time moisture data helps maintain biofilter performance (and if so, to permanently install monitors in all biofilter beds), and addresses the violations incurred between November 1