Starting in February, the plant will be required to discharge two-thirds less nitrogen per liter of water — from 18 milliliters per gallon down to 6. To do that, the plant will have to use methanol, a chemical both volatile and expensive.
Of the $2.2 million budgeted for all chemicals in 2009, $1.3 million of it is for methanol — three times more than the $400,000 that was budgeted for chemicals in 2008. Overall, the plant is looking at a $1.8 million increase for chemicals.
Instead of saying “volatile” why don’t they just come right out and say that it is explosive? The average sanitation worker is not paid all that much. I don’t know how much I trust them to deal with something that is “volatile.”