American Biogas Council
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WARNING! Sewage sludge is toxic. Food should not be grown in "biosolids." Join the Food Rights Network. |
The American Biogas Council is, according to its own website, "the first anaerobic digestion (AD) industry association in the United States that represents a full range of anaerobic digestion technologies and projects, including farm-based digesters, centralized facilities processing a variety of municipal and industrial organic waste streams, and existing digesters at municipal wastewater treatment plants."[1]
Contents
Toxic Sludge Gasification Controversy
"Centralized facilities processing a variety of municipal and industrial organic waste streams" is PR spin for sewage sludge facilities. EPA whistleblower Hugh Kaufman has called gasification, or using sludge to generate methanol or energy, the "most environmentally sound approach, but also the most expensive," to sludge disposal. However, anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge, while it reduces the volume of the sludge and heats it to a temperature that kills many pathogens, still leaves behind what the industry calls "digestate" or, more specifically in this case, "biosolids." These "Class A Biosolids" (so-called because the Environmental Protection Agency has stricter limits on pathogens and "vector attraction" for Class A than for Class B Biosolids, i.e. they must not attract disease-carrying insects or rodents, etc.) still contain other sludge contaminants, including Dioxins and Furans, Flame Retardants, Metals, Organochlorine Pesticides, 1,2-Dibromo-3-Chloropropane (DBCP), Naphthalene, Triclosan, Nonylphenols, Phthalates, Nanosilver, and thousands more substances.
The EPA's 2009 Targeted National Sewage Sludge Survey (TNSSS) concluded that all sewage sludge, Class A, Class B or otherwise, contains toxic and hazardous materials, including large numbers of endocrine disruptors. The TNSSS results are described in two EPA reports published in 2009. EPA found that dozens of hazardous materials, not regulated and not required to be tested for, have been documented in each and every one of the sludge samples EPA took around the USA.[2] And yet Class A "Biosolids" may be applied to cropland with no restrictions and sold or given away to gardeners as "organic fertilizers," and hundreds of municipalities and companies do so.
Sponsor of the 2011 BioCycle 11th Annual Conference on "Renewable Energy from Organics Recycling"
The American Biogas Council was an exhibitor at the 2011 BioCycle 11th Annual Conference on "Renewable Energy from Organics Recycling" and listed as a conference sponsor. BioCycle Magazine is a publication serving the interests of the sewage sludge industry.[3]
Personnel
Board of Directors
(As of November, 2011[4]:)
- Paul Greene, Vice President, O’Brien & Gere (ABC Chairman)
- Norma McDonald, North American Sales Manager, Organic Waste Systems (ABC Vice-Chair)
- Melissa VanOrnum, Marketing Manager, GHD, Inc. (ABC Treasurer)
- Nora Goldstein, Editor, BioCycle Magazine (ABC Secretary)
- Shane Chrapko, Co-CEO, Highmark Renewables
- Wayne Davis, Co-founder, Harvest Power, Inc.
- Kerry Kelly, Director, Federal Public Affairs, Waste Management, Inc.
- Amy McCrae Kessler, EVP & Head of Legal and Regulatory Affairs, Turning Earth, LLC
- Christine McKiernan, VP Engineering, Verliant Energy Partners
- Shonodeep Modak, Market Development Manager, GE Energy, Jenbacher gas engines
- Bernie Sheff, President, UTS Residual Processing, LLC
Officers
(As of November, 2011[5]:)
- Patrick Serfass, Executive Director
- Paul Greene – O'Brien and Gere, Chairman
- Norma McDonald – Organic Waste Systems, Vice-chair
- Melissa VanOrnum - GHD, Inc., Treasurer
- Nora Goldstein - BioCycle Magazine, Secretary
Staff
(As of November, 2011[6]:)
- Patrick Serfass, Executive Director (TTC)
- Josh Lieberman, Marketing and Membership (TTC)
- Andre Cutair, Graphics, Publications and Web site (TTC)
- Cordelia Pearson, Finance (TTC)
- Maureen Walsh, Legislative and Regulatory Affairs (ML Strategies)
- Bryan Stockton, Legislative and Regulatory Affairs (ML Strategies)
Members
(As of November, 2011[7]:)
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Contact Information
1211 Connecticut Ave, NW
Suite 600
Washington, DC 20036-2701
Phone: 202-640-6595
Email: info@americanbiogascouncil.org
Contact Form: http://www.americanbiogascouncil.org/about_contact.asp
Web: http://www.americanbiogascouncil.org/
Legislative Affairs
Email: lraChairs@americanbiogascouncil.org
Media
Paul Greene, ABC Chairman
Email: paul.greene@obg.com
Phone: 518-758-2179
Patrick Serfass, Executive Director
Email: pserfass@ttcorp.com
Phone: 202-904-0220
Resources
Other SourceWatch Resources
References
- ↑ American Biogas Council, Mission Statement, trade group website, accessed November 3, 2011
- ↑ Environmental Protection Agency, TNSSS: EPA-822-R-08-016 and EPA-822-R-08-018, January 2009
- ↑ BioCycle, Exhibitor Directory, publisher's website, accessed November 3, 2011
- ↑ American Biogas Council, Board, organizational site, accessed November 3, 2011
- ↑ American Biogas Council, Board, organizational site, accessed November 3, 2011
- ↑ American Biogas Council, Board, organizational site, accessed November 3, 2011
- ↑ American Biogas Council, Membership List, organizational site, accessed November 3, 2011
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