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 BASIC ISSUES about the Lafarge tire-burning proposal SIGN THE PETITION: Click here!OVERVIEW: Right here in the Hudson Valley, the French-owned Lafarge company wants to burn nearly 5 millon tires every year to fuel its Ravena cement kiln. HEALTH: Tire-burning is known to pose grave risks to human health due to emissions of dioxins, furans and other pollutants (see quote from Dr. Asbornsen, at left). Many of the pollutants related to tire-burning are recognized as carcinogens and both reproductive and developmental toxins. Research has shown that children, pregnant women, immunosuppressed individuals and those with specific genetic susceptibility are uniquely vulnerable to the damage and disease caused by many of the emissions which may result from burning tires. TECHNOLOGY: Cement kilns are not designed to operate as incinerators. Older, wet-process kiln like the one at Ravena are especially inefficient and unreliable, even by cement industry standards, and are especially ill-suited for burning tires. KILN UPSETS: Cement kilns often have difficulty maintaining constant temperatures and airflow, causing potential spikes of toxic emissions. Such fluctuations compound the risks of tire-burning. WEAK REGULATIONS: Cement kilns are also not regulated as incinerators. Oversight of tire-burning cement plants is even less stringent than for medical, municipal and hazardous waste incinerators. With the recent changes of New Source Review regulations by the Bush administration, regulatory controls over these practices have become signficantly weaker. TIRE INGREDIENTS AND EMISSIONS: Tires can contain styrene, butadiene, benzene-based oils and other petrochemicals, chlorine, and up to 17 heavy metals including lead, arsenic and chromium. Tire-burning can produced dioxins, furans, PCBs, and PAHs. INDUSTRY RHETORIC: The cement industry has invested millions in public relations campaigns to spin tire burning as recycling, claiming it will reduce emissions by replacing coal with tires. In practice, this rarely proves true, or at best makes a lateral shift in plant performance, trading one dangerous pollutant for another. ALTERNATIVES: There are far safer ways of reusing old tires. Civil engineering uses for scrap tires include rubber-modified asphalt, molded products, athletic surfaces, plastic/rubber blends, and other construction and miscellaneous applications. Shredded tires are successfully used as lightweight fill for embankments and retaining walls, leachate drainage at solid waste landfills, as an insulating layer beneath roads and behind retaining walls, as an alternative cover at solid waste landfills. Whole tires can be used as artificial marine reefs, to manufacture wheels for moving appliances and furniture, rubber flooring, and as erosion barriers on coasts. Tires can be mechanically processed for consumer products including containers, footwear, mats, parts for bicycles and other consumer products and appliances. REVIEW PROCESS: The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has begun a public comment period on the Lafarge proposal. A public hearing is scheduled for Thursday, August 25th at 7 pm at the A.W. Becker Elementary School in Bethlehem (southern Albany county), 1146 Route 9W. This is your best opportunity to make your concerns directly to the DEC staff. You do not need to be a resident of Ravena, or an expert in tire-burning, to attend... For directions, call (518) 822-0334 or click HERE. WHERE TO SEND WRITTEN COMMENTS: If you cannot attend the hearing, please send written comments to: William ClarkeRead our news releases on this topic: Press release (8/22/05) CHECK BACK REGULARLY FOR MORE INFORMATION, OR CALL (518) 822-0334 |