Public hearing scheduled for January 16 to discuss UNC cogeneration facility

GOVERNMENT

By Adam Powell
Correspondent

HILLSBOROUGH–On the evening of Jan. 16, 2025, the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ) will hold a public hearing at the Chapel Hill Town Hall, located at 405 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., on a draft air quality permit modification being pursued by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for its cogeneration facility, a power station owned by the University at 575 W. Cameron Avenue. 

Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. on the evening of Thursday, January 16, with the much-anticipated public hearing starting at 7:00 p.m.. NCDEQ officials and University representatives will be on hand for a presentation and discussion with area residents and concerned citizens.

In August, the University announced it would seek an allowance from NCDEQ to allow it to burn engineered pellets, along with coal and natural gas, at the 575 W. Cameron Avenue site. The pellets, which are manufactured by the Convergen company of Green Bay, Wisconsin, are not considered solid waste.

“The new pellet fuel is expected to reduce emissions of particulate matter and sulfur dioxide while increasing emissions of nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide,” reads the January 16 NCDEQ public meeting announcement. “There would be no physical changes to the boilers (at the cogeneration facility).”

The announcement for the public hearing states that the engineered pellets produced by Convergen have been known to contain small traces of a per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance,  also known as PFAS and negatively termed “forever chemicals” by detractors. The materials accumulate over time in the natural environment and in the bodies of animals and humans, causing possible long-term health risks.

As a result, UNC’s draft permit to NCDEQ for the cogeneration facility requires the University to routinely sample the Convergen pellets (which consist of byproducts from recycled packaging and labeling) while also testing its boilers for potential and actual PFAS emissions. In its August announcement, the University stated that the modification to the Title V permit with NCDEQ would allow the testing of the alternate fuel for a one-year period.

“Based on an analysis of the pellets, the facility would not emit more than 1.2 pounds of PFAS per year,” stated the University’s public hearing announcement.

According to the Southeast CHP Application Center, UNC’s cogeneration plant, which was installed back in 1992, features a 32-megawatt steam turbine, a pair of two-megawatt diesel generators, two 250,000-pound-per-hour circulating fluidized bed boilers, one 250,000-pound-per-hour gas-fired packaged boiler, and a 50,385-ton cooling capacity with 19 electric and five absorption chillers. The plant has an output of 36 megawatts and utilizes a range of fuels, including coal, gas, fuel oil, and diesel fuel.

“Underneath the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill runs more than 45 miles of steam pipe and 22 miles of chilled water pipe,” states the application center. “UNC Chapel Hill uses district heating and cooling on campus and at the (UNC) Hospital. The energy facilities at UNC provide steam, chilled water, and electricity to 175 buildings within the campus.”

Along with the cogeneration facility, where coal and natural gas are burned to produce steam and electricity for University use, the UNC-Chapel Hill network includes a steam plant and five chiller plants. The chiller plants remove heat from the process through means including vapor compression or absorption refrigeration.

If the permit medication is approved by the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, the University will be permitted to begin the Convergen pellets in mid-2025 for the one-year evaluation period. If the testing stays within or below specified parameters after the one-year trial period, UNC will be allowed to burn the pellets without restrictions, with eventual plans to phase out the burning of coal and natural gas on the site to burn exclusively pellets.

Opponents of the proposed burning of the Convergen pellets are frustrated with the prospect of the PFAS materials potentially entering Chapel Hill and surrounding local air and water streams, as well as what they perceive to be a slow timeline for UNC to phase out the coal-burning component of the cogeneration facility.

While Hillsborough is the county seat of Orange County, and Orange High School has the capacity to accommodate the anticipated crowds that may attend the event, the fact that the public hearing is being held in a town 15 miles away from the cogeneration facility that is not associated with the project is another point of contention for many area residents.

Supporters of the Convergen pellet program cite its cost-effectiveness, along with the relatively mild hazard potential of the pellets compared to other types of fuel.

“Created from pre-consumer paper and plastic scraps that would otherwise end up in landfills, this ultra-low carbon fuel is classified by the EPA as a non-hazardous, non-waste fuel,” stated the University upon announcing the request for the permit modification. “This fuel is cost-competitive, boasts an emissions profile that matches or exceeds that of our current fuels, and has shown promising results at other industrial sites and universities.”

“If adopted for use, this fuel can be conveniently stored in our existing silos and used in our solid fuel boilers with minimal adjustments. Given that North Carolina is a major producer of the materials used to create this fuel, pursuing its long-term use could lead to establishing a local production facility by the manufacturer, ensuring a reliable local supply.”

The University has indicated that using pellets at the cogeneration site supports its Climate Action Plan, which pledges to make UNC-Chapel Hill carbon neutral by the year 2050.

Those interested in commenting on the application without physically attending the January 16 meeting in Hillsborough can do so by sending an email to DAQ.publiccomments@deq.nc.gov with the subject line “UNC.24A,” or by leaving a voicemail at (919) 707-8448. Public comments will be accepted through Monday, December 23.

In addition, residents can physically mail letters to the Department of Environmental Quality to address their potential concerns about burning the Convergen pellets at the plant. Those comments can be mailed to NCDEQ Division of Air Quality, 1628 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-1628. The original deadline to submit comments on the matter was updated (from January 17 to January 23, 2025) to accommodate more comments from the local community.

Adam Powell is a reporter on local news and sports and an education communications professional. A 2001 graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill, Powell has served as managing editor of multiple local publications, including the Mebane Enterprise, News of Orange County and TarHeelIllustrated.com. The public information officer for Rockingham County Schools in Eden, N.C., Powell is the author of four books and lives in Mebane with his wife and two children. This reporter can be reached at: Info@TheLocal Reporter.press