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The pelletizing building of the Waelz Sustainable Products plant is shown at 3340 W. County Road 300 South in Logansport on Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2021.
A radiation detector for train cars is seen at the Waelz Sustainable Products plant at 3340 W. County Road 300 South in Logansport on Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2021.
The pelletizing building of the Waelz Sustainable Products plant is shown as construction continues at 3340 W. County Road 300 South in Logansport on Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2021.
The pelletizing building of the Waelz Sustainable Products plant is shown at 3340 W. County Road 300 South in Logansport on Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2021.
A radiation detector for train cars is seen at the Waelz Sustainable Products plant at 3340 W. County Road 300 South in Logansport on Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2021.
The pelletizing building of the Waelz Sustainable Products plant is shown as construction continues at 3340 W. County Road 300 South in Logansport on Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2021.
Waelz Sustainable Products General Manager Michael Englert appeared before the Cass County Redevelopment Commission on Monday to provide a quarterly health and safety report on the factory’s operations.
WSP has not yet started the process of separating metallurgic waste to recycle zinc, but Englert said once that process begins he will provide more frequent updates.
“Without being in operation, we were doing all the testing and getting our information back quarterly,” he said. “We will start turning that to monthly.”
Englert showed a chart that mapped baseline lead levels in the area throughout 2021 and said he plans to meet with Logansport city officials soon to compare readings.
The chart showed that the lead concentration around the facility was far below the 0.15 micrograms per cubic meter of air limit set by the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
The measurements ranged from concentrations below 0.001 micrograms per cubic meter of air to a high of a little over 0.01 micrograms per cubic meter of air in November.
“I don’t know if that’s a good level or a bad level,” Englert said about the 2021 lead readings. “There is lead that is out there.”
Comparison between the city and WSP will help determine the baseline level for lead and other metals in the air before WSP begins production. It is important to have those baseline readings because of concerns that dust from the metal waste will escape WSP facilities and be released into the environment.
“Probably in the next week or two, I’ll meet with a couple of folks from the city,” Englert said. “We’ll compare when they initially started their sampling unit. We’ll do that on a regular basis so we continue to talk back and forth to see if there are any differences.”
WSP and the City of Logansport both use ambient air monitors to measure the air for metals indicative of factory pollution. The monitors measure the level of elements like lead, chromium and cadmium in the air and will be used to determine whether those levels rise significantly once WSP begins operating.
The Waelz process consists of pelletizing metallurgical waste before rotating those pellets in a kiln. Metals with low boiling points, like zinc, are vaporized and oxidized. The resulting dust, called Waelz oxide and primarily composed of zinc oxide, is collected from the kiln’s exhaust.
Englert said there are a few more steps to complete before the factory can start operating. The company received raw materials in mid-January but does not expect to commission the kiln until the end of April.
“The biggest thing that’s affected us is weather,” Englert said. “It’s not so much the snow and the cold as the wind, because most of what we’re doing is flying things up. If you drive by, you’ll see the cranes that are still there. There’s a very specific rule on what the wind can be to use a crane at any height.”
Englert said pausing for a couple days of bad weather can delay WSP by over a week, depending on specific contractors and the types of jobs that need to be done.
Despite the delays, Englert said he expects WSP to begin pelletizing sometime this week.
Englert also touted WSP’s safety measures and said the company is doing everything it can to be safe and protect Cass County residents and the environment.
“Our process engineer has developed checklists for everything,” he said. “We work forward, and then we work backward, because if engineers find something upstream, they’ve got to shut everything off backward so we don’t overfill anything.”
The building contains baghouse filters that trap dust and gas to prevent environmental pollution outside the WSP plant. Inside, dust collectors filter dust and other particles out of the air.
“There’s a big difference between bags and dust collectors,” Englert said. “The dust collectors are inside helping the environment for the employees. There are actually more of those on site than there are bag houses. There are things inside to make sure the environment is as safe as it possibly can be.”
However, some Cass County residents are not convinced that WSP’s current safety measures are enough.
Lora Redweik is one of those residents. Redweik has expressed concern about the possibility of contamination and the effects WSP will have on Cass County citizens.
“You’re talking about the pelletizing. Is there negative pressure in that building where you’re doing the pelletizing?” Redweik asked Englert. “When you have that and it’s coming in, the dust of course will rise when you mess with it. Does that go through an exhaust? Because it’s negative pressure, it just stays within.”
Englert said there is negative pressure inside the buildings, so air is sucked in instead of pushed out. Additionally, the company has tested airflow through some of its doors to ensure they have proper suction.
Sometimes materials must be moved between buildings, so tubes called galleries, which are also pressurized, are used to transport those materials.
Englert said employee safety is also a top priority. The main entrance to the site has an air shower just to the left that ensures employees do not transport dust particles.
He said employees are also encouraged to ask questions about anything they are unsure of.
“We kind of coined ‘stop, think, ask.’ We found a stop light, so it flashes,” he said. “ … I thought it was a really neat thing. Safety isn’t a gimmick, but people need to always be aware of what’s going on. When you’re starting a facility up, everything is new.”
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James P. Miiller, age 79, Logansport, passed away at 11:52 a.m. Sunday, March 20, 2022, at Miller's Merry Manor. Surviving wife, Carol. United States Army veteran. Funeral arrangements are pending at Kroeger Funeral Home, www.kroegerfuneralhome.com.
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