Julie Ward, Chuck Lightburn, Phil Friedman, Robert Nielsen, Kurt Mackes, Gordon Benton, Audrey-Lyn Stockton, Steve Harem, Janelle Henderson

Committee members discussed types of wood waste that could potentially be used for fuel, including dimensional lumber, plywood, OSB, furniture, sawdust, wood product manufacturing scraps, forest slash, unusable timber and other biomass. Kurt Mackes noted that 5 to 6 million pallets end up in Colorado each year and might also be a good fuel source.

Members had a lengthy discussion about the potential air quality impacts of burning the various types of wood. Would there be problems burning the adhesives present in manufactured woods (OSB and plywood) or burning painted wood? Kurt Mackes stated that he is researching data on burning wood wastes. He noted that formaldehyde, urea, and phenols are problems in incomplete combustion processes, but that Holnam has complete combustion. He also noted that Holnam would have to meet air quality regulations and standards, which would include stack testing for these types of products. Hydrochloric acid from chlorides or PCBs, dioxins and furans would be of concern to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. The group agreed that it’s important to know what portion of the wood waste stream would be manufactured wood. It might be such a small percentage that the air quality impacts would be negligible.

Chuck Lightburn discussed Holnam’s interest in possibly burning recyclables from the Larimer County Recycling Center, such as paper or plastics. These materials are good, high Btu fuels that are already separated and baled. Holnam could be another market to which to sell these materials. Phil Friedman was adamantly opposed to this idea, stating that it breaks the recycling chain. He thought that these materials should continue to be recycled into other useful products, not burned. Janelle Henderson stated that she wasn’t sure how the County Commissioners would feel about burning materials from the Recycling Center instead of recycling them.

The committee members discussed using forest slash as a wood fuel source. Was there a benefit to moving slash out of the forests? Kurt Mackes stated that most of the wood would come from diseased trees (i.e. those infested with Mountain Pine Beetle), forest thinning and the clearing of defensible space for wildfire protection on private property, rather than from public forests. Audrey-Lyn Stockton asked whether it was more ecologically advantageous to leave wood waste in the forest to decompose rather than hauling it out to be burned. Dr. Mackes noted that wood left rotting on the forest floor decomposes into numerous chemicals that can cause water quality problems.

Chuck Lightburn stated that Holnam was concerned about the sustainability of any wood supply. The company would have to be assured of a sustainable supply to make the transition to burning wood economically viable. He wondered if the County would be able to divert 75% of the wood wastes delivered to the landfill. Committee members discussed other sources for wood wastes along the Front Range. Janelle Henderson committed to contacting the Northern Colorado Homebuilders Association about the feasibility of separating construction and demolition debris at construction sites.

Audrey-Lyn Stockton suggested that the Waste Diversion Project Development Team get a copy of the air permit Holnam had submitted to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. She noted that Holnam had listed several other alternate fuels in addition to wood wastes, including tires and plastics. The committee developed a list of the fuels discussed during the meeting, which included: