Project Description
JMG Engineering (Prime), is currently assisting Pasco County with applying for and obtaining a major modification to the Facility’s Siting Certification, issued under the Power Plant Siting Act, to authorize construction of a 4th municipal waste combustor. Working in collaboration with a team of specialists from AECOM (Subconsultant), the team is preparing the documentation and supporting information that addresses the following elements of a fourth combustion unit at the Facility:
- Site and Vicinity Characterization
- Effects of Site Preparation, Plant, and Associated Facilities Construction
- Effects of Plant Operation
- Economic and Societal Effects
Elements such as Facility air emissions, Facility water usage, traffic impacts, residual disposal, and sociopolitical impacts of the expanded Facility are addressed. Once the application is submitted in late 2021, JMG Engineering will support the County through testimony at public hearings. Additionally, the project team is preparing a PSD Permit Application to address air impacts from the expanded Facility.
In addition to the environmental permitting aspects of the Facility expansion, JMG Engineering is also assisting Pasco County with the contractual negotiations with Covanta to construct and operate the expanded Facility. The JMG team personnel assisting Pasco County with this Project are uniquely qualified because of their years of experience sitting on the Covanta side of the negotiating table. The collaborative nature of the negotiations has already identified a number of potential pathways for Pasco County to save money on the expansion and future operation of the Facility without assigning unreasonable risk or financial burden to Covanta.
The final element of the project relates to identifying and negotiating a replacement for the Facility’s expiring Power Purchase Agreement with Duke Energy. The PPA will expire in 2024, so the County has tasked the AECOM/JMG Team with identifying and negotiating a new PPA and/or alternatives to a PPA such as using the electrical energy at County-owned facilities.
Project Benefits
The Project Team identified a unique permitting strategy to accept a lower and achievable permit limit for the pollutant NOx on the Facility’s existing Combustion Units to avoid a Best Available Control Technology (BACT) determination of SCR for the new Combustion Unit. This permitting strategy will save an approximately $20,000,000 of the capital cost of the expansion project.