Bakken Breakout 2011

Stories about Bakken Field oil production. (Blog title is the link.) Bison ad on page 25.

Handling Pricing Pressure

"The experts say that competing on price does little to ensure customer loyalty and everything to ensure that you’ll play the price game each time you bid on a project. In the environmental industry, slashing prices has become a knee-jerk reaction for those who are unprepared to counter pricing pushback from potential clients with value-based sales tactics."

Pricing Pressure Article

Boilers NESHAP Proposal - April 2010

"Boiler operators would be required to reduce mercury emissions by 50 percent as part of two new proposed rules to control air toxics from large and small boilers released by the Environmental Protection Agency April 30."

Would require annual testing for major and area sources. Existing small boilers and process heaters (L.T.E 10 MMBtu/hr) would need biannual tuning. Existing large boilers (area sources > 10 MMBtu/hr) would have to perform an energy assessment. Will cover boilers that burn coal, oil, biomass, and other non-hazardous materials. AWMA article includes link to EPA web site.

AWMA article

Trinity article

Of Boiler Rules and Biofuels
Martin Law article added 8/20/2010. Includes concise background and good short discussion of hazardous waste issue. Here's an excerpt:

"The key is whether the unit burns any “solid waste.” This leads to the question: when is biomass also solid waste? EPA’s original approach to this question was to exempt most materials that would be considered biomass (e.g., wood, food, agricultural byproducts – even manure, if burned) because they had not been “discarded.” However, EPA has now changed its rule to include an additional criterion: these materials are only exempted from treatment as solid waste if they remain in control of the generator. If these materials leave the point of generation, operators are now required to petition EPA for a “non-waste determination.”

EPA has indicated it will grant a non-waste determination if the boiler operator can establish that market participants treat the biomass stock as a fuel rather than a solid waste, and that the fuel stock has a chemical and physical identity comparable to commercial fuels, will be used in a reasonable timeframe, and has air emissions when burned comparable to traditional fuels. EPA’s determination is subject to notice, comment and hearing requirements, and, presumably, judicial review. Depending on how EPA handles this process, it could pose a significant administrative burden and uncertain time delays for fuel supply contracts between biomass energy project developers and timberland managers, farmers, and other suppliers of biomass."


Proposed Area Source Boiler MACT:
Here are some graphical outlines of the area source boiler MACT proposal. There are three graphics files: one overview and two subcategory expansions. The original file was created in a free mind mapping application called XMind which can be downloaded from this address: http://www.xmind.net/

XMind mind map

Overview jpg

Emission Standards jpg

Continuous Compliance jpg

Here are the proposed rules as published in the Federal Register. To access them, you'll have to log into Cyber Regs. You can use username 'kevinmathews' and password 'bisoneng'.

Major Source Boilers

Area Source Boilers

RCRA Waste Definition

CISWI NSPS Modification

Here's an MDEQ summary presented to CAAAC in July 2010:

MDEQ Summary Presentation

Proposed MHA Nation Refinery - Region 8 Page

Proposed MHA Nation Clean Fuels Refinery Region 8 US EPA

Wyoming Ozone marketing letter

Sent March 2010

http://companyweb/General%20Documents/Docs%20for%20posting/WY%20Ozone%20Marketing%20Letter.doc

North Dakota growth analysis

A Basic Analysis of the Bakken Oil Boom: Precautions and Planning

"The oil industry began booming in northwestern North Dakota in 2006 with developments in the Bakken formation. This paper is an analysis of the boom and its impact upon the economies in a six county region identified by the high numbers of drilling and permits pulled in the region. Counties in the study region include Billings, Burke, Dunn, McKenzie, Mountrail, and Williams counties.

The boom is evidenced by 28% per annum job growth from 2005‐08 in mining industry employment in the region, an increase in the share of mining jobs in the regions basic industry mix (from 28% in 2000 to 55% in 2008), and a 2008 location quotient of 10.6 for the region’s mining industry relative to the state. This increased mining activity has also corresponded with average annual continuous growth in state‐wide oil and gas extraction tax revenues of 33%. Nearly 25% of all oil and gas extraction tax revenue collected in the state since the institution of the tax in 1981 has happened in the 2008 and 2009 fiscal years. The increased employment and tax revenues are by and large benefits to the state, which is currently one of only a few states experiencing a budget surplus."

Above from the executive summary. (Click on blog title to go to report.)