Laserfiche WebLink
<br /> <br />'. <br /> <br />L. M. ALEXANDER <br /> <br />The oxides of nitrogen-the first prediction of the boiler manufacturer, Combustion Engineering <br />-is that nitrogen oxides emission will be in the order of 400,500 PPM concentration. No standards <br />for this emission have been established by the government. <br /> <br />NOx becomes of concern primarily in very large population centers where it can react with <br />unburned hydrocarbons from autos to form the photo-chemical smog such as observed in Southern <br />California. <br /> <br />We can conclude that the relatively minute quantities of gases and particulate matter which will <br />escape will be well within the limits set out in Federal, State and County regulations, and as such will <br />not be harmful to people, plants, fish or animals. <br /> <br />It will not be obnoxious to our aesthetic senses either. To prove that, one of the studies being <br />conducted will include the development of an index of potential pollutant exposure. In layman's <br />Slide 21 language, it will tell us how much of what is likely to go where. This slide illustrates a first approxi. <br />mation to what might result. Although upper level (700-1500 feet) winds have not been recorded in <br />and near the plant site for any appreciable length of time, it was possible to create a synthetic <br />portrayal of what is thought to be representative of the Navajo plant site area. Note that the <br />pollurant exposure envelope has its major axis north of the plant site running NE-SW while south of <br />the plant site it shifts more southerly due to terrain influence in the plant vicinity, The potential <br />pollution exposure envelope is not to be misunderstood-it attempts to answer the question as to <br />what areas might be most likely affected, no matter how slight the pollution, We intend to initiate a <br />pollution monitoring program in the near future which will keep us informed as we go, <br /> <br />Slide 22 Slide 22 illustrates what might be termed a first look at what is considered to be the worst <br />condition, In technical jargon this condition occurs when the atmosphere permits the stack plume to <br />"fumigate" the ground in and near the plant site. <br /> <br />Although we intend to study this further, our meteorologists tell us that fumigation occurs with <br />all stack heights when the ground temperature warms sufficiently during the day to bring the stack <br />plume temporarily to the ground. Further, they tell us that fortuitously, this condition is of normally <br />short duration (30-60 minutes) and will occur on the order of only about 2-3% of the time at the <br />Navajo site, So far this condition does not come under regulatory consideration, but is of interest <br />since it can occur. <br /> <br />'Slide 22 shows that fumigation begins when the temperature condition reaches a lapse as shown <br />A-B and ends, or is assumed conservatively to end, when the lapse of CoD is reached (this is when the <br />plume has ascended at least one-half the original stack height thus lessening the ground level concen- <br />tration). ' <br /> <br />Slide 23 This slide indicates what our meteorologists believe to be representative 'of the frequency of the <br />direction of the winds when fumigation takes place. Note that the wind direction frequency is <br />directly proportional to the lengths of the dark bars on the chart. The numbers at the ends of the <br />bars are the average wind speeds for each bar, Again here we note the anticipation of southwesterly <br />and westerly flow domination, i.e" winds from the southwest and west, at stack height level. Our <br />on-site program will also monitor wind conditions so that we can accurately portray conditions as <br />they actually occur at the Navajo site. This effort will be coupled with our air monitoring effort <br />which we expect to initiate in the near future. A portion of this work has already been in operation <br />since March of 1969, <br /> <br />-27- <br /> <br />