From: Dan McMullin
Sent: Sun 3/2/2003 8:46 PM
To: Beth Kummling
Subject: Time and cost

Hello again Beth:

I need some "ball park" info in 2 areas: time and costing

It's been suggested by one JAG member with some technical background that it might take decades for GPCR to process 700,000 tons of tar pond waste. Assuming thermal desorbtion and GPCR are both used, how long do you estimate it might take on the outside.

Can you also estimate for me:

1 - cost per ton for the thermal desorbtion process
2 - cost per ton to treat the chemical distillate using GPCR
(or an approximate "total" cost per ton.)
I understand that these would only be "ball park" figures.

Thanks again for you help.

Regards,
Dan McMullin

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Again, I believe the JAG are working with dated information. Based on our approach from a few years ago, it could indeed have taken a very long time for GPCR alone to treat the sediment, at a fairly high cost.

As it is, though, we are now using thermal desorption as a front-end device, and GPCR is only used to treat the concentrated contaminants. This reduces both the timeframe and cost.

Typical thermal desorption units can treat from 5 to 15 tonnes per hour. Assuming an average rate of 10 tonnes per hour (70,000 tonnes per year), this equates to roughly 10 years of desorption. To reduce this timeframe, a second desorption device can be added. I am not in my office this week (I am in the Philippines on business, actually), but I recall that the amount of concentrated contaminant that is created from thermal desorption can be treated by GPCR at roughly the same rate i.e. it keeps pace with the desorption step. So in general, the timeframe offered by Thermal Desorption/GPCR combination is the same as that listed by the JAG for thermal desorption in general, which I believe was around 7 years.

Also, we are roughly in the cost range the JAG list for thermal desorption, which I also recall is around $300 million (that is for both the desorption and GPCR treatment steps). Of course, a cost would have to be reviewed and refined when we receive more information about the precise quantity, contaminant levels, etc., but we have received no request to date to resubmit either our treatment approach or cost.

I hope the above helps.

Sincerely,
Beth