Article: Xcel boiler shut down on French Island

Xcel Energy's French Island generating plant has shut down one of its boilers because of a failed test for dioxin emissions.

The company is working to fix the problems, Xcel spokesman Brian Elwood said, and will report to the community when it knows what happened.

Most of the La Crosse area's municipal solid waste is turned into refuse-derived fuel that is burned at French Island to create electricity, reducing what goes into the landfill by nearly three-quarters.

One of the byproducts of burning refuse-derived fuel is dioxin, a group of toxic chemicals. The plant tests each of its two boilers once a year.

Preliminary results of a smokestack test done in August showed problems with dioxin ...

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