An independent panel, comprised of seven recognized experts in the fields of environmental health, air quality, wastewater treatment, chemical engineering, and pollution prevention was formed to help Flint Hills Resources and MCEA develop the framework for this Web site and to review overall content of the site. Two of the panel members are professors at the University of Minnesota who are conducting a review of FHR's calculation of emissions data.

Verification of emissions data is not intended to be a comprehensive review of every report filed, number generated or sample taken; but rather, its purpose is more akin to an audit, or spot check, of the methods used by FHR to assess and report various emission streams from the refinery. The University's review primarily involved evaluating FHR's calculation procedures, and in some cases evaluating FHR's experimental protocols.* This review began with an analysis of FHR's water emission release data and ultimately includes a review of solid waste data, criteria air pollutants and toxic air pollutant emission release data.** Upon completion of the University's review, a report will be prepared and made available on this Web site. Please also visit the Emissions and Impacts pages for further detail about verification of data.

MCEA has also retained technical consultant Dan Reinke of Environmental Resources Management. MCEA also consults with other experts on environmental performance and petroleum refining.

Members of the panel selected by MCEA and FHR include:

Dr. Michael Zachariah
Previously, Particle Technology Laboratory at the University of Minnesota
Currently at the Center for NanoEnergetics Research
University of Maryland and National Institute of Standards & Technology

Dr. Virgil Marple, Director
Undergraduate Co-op/Intern Program
Department of Mechanical Engineering
University of Minnesota

Ken Sexton, Director
Previously, Director, Center for Environment and Health Policy, University of Minnesota
Currently, Adjunct Professor, Graduate Studies
University of Texas at Brownsville

Dr. Paige Novak
Environmental & Water Resources Engineering
Department of Civil Engineering
University of Minnesota

Kevin McDonald
Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistance

Joe Rogers
Center of Waste Reduction Technologies
American Institute of Chemical Engineers

John Jaimez
Previously with Materials Productivity LLC Co-founder and Principal
A pollution prevention consulting company
Currently with Hennepin County Department of Environmental Services

Biographies - FHR-MCEA Expert Panel

Michael R. Zachariah formerly a member of the faculty at the University of Minnesota in the departments of Mechanical Engineering and Chemistry. He holds a B.S. in Biochemistry and received a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from UCLA in 1986. Prior to his arrival at the University of Minnesota in 1999, he was at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for 12 years as a research scientist and leader of the Reacting Flows Group. His research interests include novel methods for abatement of environmentally hazardous compounds. He has authored 91 published scientific research papers and has presented over 100 technical seminars. He is currently at the Center for nanoEnergetics Research, University of Maryland and National Institute of Standards & Technology.

Virgil Marple is the Director of the Undergraduate Co-Op/Intern Program at the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Marple's research interests lie in the areas of particle technology and aerosol science, specifically in the development, evaluation and calibration of instruments to monitor the size distribution of aerosol particles, especially non-ideal aerosols. Additional research interests include both two- and three-dimensional modeling of fluid flow fields and particle trajectories in aerosol sampling devices, the analysis of anisokinetic particle sampling, and the study of fugitive dust emissions.

Ken Sexton formerly a Bond Professor of Environmental Health and Director of the Center for Environment and Health Policy in the School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota. Ken was previously Director of the Office of Health Research at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, where he had responsibility for managing the EPA's research programs in toxicology, epidemiology, and human exposure monitoring. He is the recipient of the EPA's gold medal for exceptional service, and is an elected member of Delta Omega, the honorary public health society, as well as the International Academy of Indoor Air Sciences. Ken is a past president of the International Society of Exposure Analysis. His research focuses on environmental health risks - finding better ways to assess, manage, and communicate the risks of environmental hazards, and finding better ways to protect environmental quality and human health. He is currently an adjunct professor at the University of Texas at Brownsville.

Paige Novak is a faculty member in Environmental Engineering in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Minnesota. She obtained her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Virginia and her M.S. and Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Iowa. Dr. Novak is currently the Minnesota Young Civil Engineer of the Year. She teaches courses in solid and hazardous waste management and in industrial waste treatment. She is recognized for her research in the area of biological transformations of hazardous substances and in organism-metal interactions.

Kevin McDonald is a Principal Environmental Planner at the Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistance (OEA). He joined the Office in 1987, and in 1990 was instrumental in helping to pass into law the Minnesota Toxic Pollution Prevention Act. In 1997-98, Kevin served as International Coordinator for the U.S. National Pollution Prevention Roundtable. His responsibilities included working with eight Asian nations to advance their cleaner technology and pollution prevention efforts. Kevin continues to serve developing nations as an international consultant by supporting the development of pollution prevention policies and programs. Mr. McDonald received B.A. degrees in Biology and Political Science from Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, MN, in 1986.

Joe Rogers with the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), formerly worked with AIChE's Center for Waste Reduction Technologies (CWRT). CWRT was an industry-sponsored non-profit organization established in 1991 to identify, develop and share technology and management tools that measurably enhance the economic value of sponsor organizations while benefiting the environment and addressing issues of sustainability. For example, CWRTSustainable Metrics Project developed and examined metrics for four impact categories: mass, energy, pollutants/toxics dispersion and resource depletion. AIChE has replaced CWRT with a combination of its Sustainable Engineering Forum and its Institute for Sustainability, together these organizations will carry on much of the work of CWRT.

John Jaimez is co-founder of Materials Productivity LLC, a pollution prevention consulting company. While at Materials Productivity, John worked with manufacturers to identify pollution prevention opportunities that produce cost reduction, manufacturing improvement, and environmental benefit through efficient materials use. He also worked on improving the use of materials so that environmental benefit is a natural outcome of business enhancement. John currently works for the Department of Environmental Services in Hennepin County.

Dan Reinke is a chemical engineer with Environmental Resources Management (ERM), a global environmental, health and safety consulting firm. Dan leads pollution prevention and environmental management projects. He is a coauthor of The Handbook of Environmentally Conscious Manufacturing and over 30 technical papers on risk management, environmental management and pollution prevention.

*  Emissions calculation review involves the following: 1) a review of FHR's calculation methodology; 2) random selection of six months worth of emissions data over a three year period (1997-1999) and evaluate FHR's calculations for: 13-14 pollutants released to surface water; solid waste emissions; six criteria pollutants (VOCs, SO2, NOx, CO, PM and lead) released to the air; and selection of one year's worth of air toxic emissions over a three year period (1997-1999) tracking three pollutants of most concern as agreed upon by all (lead, nitrates, and methanol); and evaluation of global climate change emissions calculations; 3) quality assurance/quality control for particulate matter emissions including a review of the methodology for particulate sampling and characterization.

** In consultation with MCEA, Flint Hills Resources contracted the University of Minnesota to provide an independent calculation of emission data using data and equations provided by Flint Hills Resources. Reports are prepared under this contract. Reports are not an endorsement or approval by the University of Minnesota of any product, service or test provided or conducted by FHR. Any services provided by the University of Minnesota under this contract are not to be considered a test of the effectiveness or the basis of any endorsement of a product, service or test provided or conducted by FHR.