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Health Impact of the Cement Plant
Health & Environmental Threat
Research worldwide indicates that tire burning kilns have a
serious detrimental impact on community health and the
integrity of the surrounding environment.
Kiln emmissions have been found to cause cancer and
respiratory illness. Environmental degredation ranges from
physical alteration to heavy metal,mercury, and chemical
contamination.
Chemicals from the air and ground water entering the river,
can accumulate to toxic quantities in wildlife and degrade the
river ecosystem. As the river becomes polluted the entire
ecosystem is at risk: human health is compromised, wildlife is
threatened and the environment is in peril.
Below are listed 10 points that substantiate this view and can
be supported by medical research, primarily commissioned by
Environmental Protection Agencies (EPA).
Dioxins
Dioxins are among emissions from tire-burning kiln. The
World Health Organization (WHO) has recently classified the
most toxic dioxins as the worst known human carcinogens
(cancer causing agents).
Dioxins also affect the immune system, fertility, and the
unborn child. Because of this, the USA has reduced their
safety levels for Dioxins repeatedly.
The EPA concluded, "Exposure to Dioxins, even at minute
levels, poses cancer risks and health concerns wider than
previously suspected".
Particulates
Particulates are extremely small particles that enter the
lungs directly, as they are too small to be filtered out.
In August 1995 the official monitoring of particulates at
Castle Cement Plant in Clithroe, England was 70mg/m³ whereas
an independent monitoring showed 490mg/m³ at a school
downwind from the plant. At this school 22% of 8 - 9 year
olds used inhalers, compared with an upwind school where
only 3% of children used them. Castle Cement's predicted
particulate emissions are 63 tons p.a. (Castle Cement's
Environmental Statement).
No matter what the company says will come out of the stack,
studies worldwide have shown that real emissions are
considerably greater and subject to sporadic events of
particularly high concentrations.
Unpredictability of Plume
No one can guarantee where the plume from the tower will
land. Plumes from high stacks can travel considerable
distances depending on wind conditions (direction and
intensity).
Studies have shown that a plume from a tall stack drops its
particulates within a minimum radius of 11 miles to 47 miles
from the stack. The volume of particulates can be quite
large and may actually travel considerably larger distances
(100's of miles) in any direction with the wind.
This is also the reason that acid rain originating from
smoke stacks in the Midwest falls to the ground in Maine.
The health effects of this kiln will reach to Tallahassee
and Jacksonville in small amounts.
Again, company predictions of the plume emission volumes and
trajectories are not realistic. Mercury and a myriad of
other chemical pollutants will fall in the Ichetucknee,
Santa Fe and Suwannee rivers.
Regions such as The San Francisco Bay Area and the state of
Maine have already limited mercury emissions to below what
will come out of this plant.
Heavy Metals and Mercury
EPA studies have documented that heavy metals do not
incinerate and emissions from incinerators pose a
significant health risk. The new cement kiln would be
generating heavy metal emissions and most of them are toxic
to humans.
Worldwide studies have revealed that mercury entering an
aquatic system will accumulate in the food chain. Fish are
particularly susceptible to accumulating high amounts of
these toxins in their tissues, which can then accumulate in
the tissues of the birds and mammals who eat them. And
ultimately, in humans who eat the contaminated fish and
animals.
The kiln will release 129 pounds of mercury more than
allowed by any state or agency concerned with environmental
health.
General Health Problems
A study conducted on illnesses related to tire burning
cement plants in Texas showed a 50% to 100% increase in
coughing, phlegm, sore throats, and eye irritation in people
near the incinerators.
A similar study concluded that a substantially greater
incidence of larynx cancer occurred in a community within 2
km of a commercial hazardous waste incinerator.
Double blind studies reveal that people who live within five
miles of a tire burning kiln in Texas are sicker, it is that
simple.
Lack of Research
For the vast majority of chemicals, we have little or no
long term toxicity data. Fewer that 2% of chemicals have
been tested.
Tires are not made of rubber, they are complex chemical
mixtures that will release thousands of chemicals in
mixtures that will create new ones, the health hazards of
this are unknown. As a cancer researcher I know that
mixtures of chemicals in low doses are cancer causing in
humans, even if the individual chemical is not.
WHO reports recent evidence that 10,000 people in England
and Wales die prematurely each year from respiratory or
heart conditions due to particulates. MAFF (Ministry of
Agriculture, Food & Fisheries) showed dioxin levels to be 4
times higher than normal at Clitheroe Cement Kiln where
prescriptions for asthma have risen 50% since they started
burning chemicals and tires.
Cement Kilns are prone to Upsets and Trips
Dr Rickard (Professor of Environmental Health) states that
"cement kilns do not have the necessary reliability and
safeguards to ensure complete destruction of hazardous
wastes".
Castle Cement in UK has had many such 'trips' in the past,
as do the kilns in Texas and the rest of the USA. By
previous experience, there will be mistakes often and they
result in odor, and chemical releases far above the listed
values.
Hidden Costs
I urge you to consider the economic impact that heavy
industry will have on the surrounding community
The visual blight and resulting drop in property values
People leaving the area - there is already evidence for
this
The deterrent to firms who might otherwise have moved to
this area
Lowering of living standards and quality of life
Noise and Diesel truck emissions
Threat to Employment
The area in Northern Florida between the three rivers is a
pristine environmental area whose whole future depends on
tourism and vacation and retirement housing. All this will
stop with the kiln, we trade 80 jobs for thousands.
Stress
With the increase in noise, traffic on local roads and
respiratory and other health problems, there is likely to be
an increase is stress related illnesses in the local
population.
Recommendations
As elected representatives you shoulder the responsibility for
our health and well being. If you approve this application you
are giving permission for a tire incinerator to be built in
our community with the associated long-term health risks not
only to the present generation but also to generations to
come. I, therefore, strongly urge you to consider the
following objectives and do something to stop this kiln.
Objectives
Stop the mining around the rivers because it will degrade
the rivers. The mine should not be a hostage. Since you know
the mine is a hazard, stop it without any tie to the kiln
which is another issue.
Do not permit the plant do to health reasons. Dioxins,
mercury, mixed chemicals not reported to DEP are enough of a
justification. Health studies worldwide prove beyond a doubt
the kiln will cause cancer and lung disease. A tire-burning
kiln is not good for a community.
Certainly do not permit this kiln in an agricultural
environmentally sensitive area. If it must exist put it in
an industrial area. However, my personal view is that a tire
burning cement plant is a health hazard anywhere it is
built.
Adapted from The Campaign Against the New Kiln, a site
dedicated to stopping a tire-burning kiln in the UK.
HeraldDemocrat-2
Part 2
The Health and Economic Impacts of Living Near A Cement Plant
Living near a cement plant means many things. In this case, if North Texas
Cement is successful in building their plant south of Whitewright, it
means seeing fertile farmland turned into huge, dusty pits where limestone
is being dynamited and/or dug out of the ground. It means an enormous
increase in truck traffic, noise and lights. But, there are also serious
health and economic ramifications if the plant is built there.
Last November, Save Whitewright and Tri-Counties (SWAT) held a meeting in
Sherman where Dr. George Crawford, Professor Emeritus of Physics and
former head of SMU Physics Department and Dr. Neil Carman, former
inspector of industrial plants for the Texas Air Control Board for 12
years, were the key speakers. They spent two hours discussing the health
impacts of living near a cement plant, and the facts were alarming.
There is not enough room to cover all of the information brought to light
at that meeting, but here are some highlights:
From Dr. Crawford:
The area within five miles of the plant will be the high danger zone, and
within twenty miles of the plant will be the danger zone. In these zones
there will be an increase in lung-related diseases such as asthma,
bronchitis and emphysema. Those with a predisposition to respiratory
problems will be affected the most. Premature death will occur among the
weakest in the population.
Cement kiln dust (CKD) contains the residues of fuel-burning. If tires and
coal are burned, there will be heavy metals like mercury. There will be
harmful dioxin. Cement kiln dust dumped into quarries will eventually find
its way into every underground water source in the area.
The most harmful pollutants in the emissions from cement kilns are
invisible, and the statement that there must be no harm in the emissions
because nothing can be seen is a meaningless statement.
From Dr. Carman:
The burning of tires emits harmful heavy metals and dangerous dioxin. Very
low levels of dioxin have been shown to cause cancer.
The burning of coal in cement kilns emits mercury, a lethal element that
accumulates in the environment. f this is allowed, we are leaving a
dangerous legacy for our children and grandchildren. The mercury will
accumulate in the soil, the plants, and the fish, and it will be ingested
by livestock. Mercury is a known contributor to birth defects,
neurological damage, and brain damage.
These facts come from educated scientists who have studied the fields of
air masses and the health effects of air pollution for over twenty years.
And if health concerns aren't enough to convince you that living near a
cement plant is not a good idea, consider the following facts about the
economic impact of living near a cement plant.
Barbara Wilson is a Realtor for Coldwell Banker Benchmark in Sherman. Most
of her home sales are in Grayson county, and she reports losing sales and
prospective sales due to just the possibility of a cement plant locating
in Grayson County. Ms. Wilson stated, "They buyers know that it is
undesirable to live near a cement plant, and they also feel sure that
heavy industry attracts other heavy industry, and that there will be more
and more of this in the area once it gets started." She added that these
customers are concerned about the potential health problems of living near
a cement plant as well as the loss of quality of life.
Another Realtor, Mary Stevens, a multimillion dollar producer for Re-Max
in Allen (Collin County) reports that a prospective buyer was absolutely
committed to buying a country home in Grayson County until news of the
cement plant surfaced. Now the buyer won't look at anything near
Whitewright.
A family in Whitewright considering putting their house on the market this
spring was advised by a Realtor to wait. The message was: hope the cement
plant does not locate in Whitewright, and you'll get more for your home.
One Whitewright family had plans to open a business in downtown
Whitewright, an area that is in need of important services such as a
printer and shoe repair store. This family immediately canceled these
plans until the issue of the cement plant is resolved.
In casual conversations with Whitewright residents I personally know of a
dozen families that have put home improvements or the building of a new
home on hold due to the prospect of the cement plant. Undoubtedly there
are many others. Whitewright and Grayson County have already suffered
economically due to just the possibility of a cement plant in the area.
And ask yourself this: is there even one place in the world that is home
to a cement plant that would be considered a nice neighborhood...one that
a family would look forward to living in or near? And is there one place
in the world that is home to just one cement plant and no other heavy
industry? The establishment of a cement plant in an area seals that area's
fate. It will be a heavy industry town forever, and never what is was
before.
The next logical question is: don't the federal and state governments
protect citizens so that there are no harmful pollutants and no adverse
economic impacts from industry like cement plants? Next time, I'll address
those issues. You may be surprised at the answers.
|Part 1| |Part 3| |Part 4| |Part 5| |SWAT Home Page|
HeraldDemocrat-3
Part 3
What Help Can Be Expected from the TNRCC and the EPA?
When a community is threatened by the construction and operation of an
unwanted industrial facility the citizens probably assume that there are
certain state and federal regulations that will protect them. They
probably assume these regulations will take into account health and safety
issues, traffic concerns, noise and light pollution, and the economic
impact of this kind of facility. No doubt they hope that these regulations
will safeguard them and their investment. And that is no doubt what many
people in Grayson, Collin and Fannin counties believe when they consider
the issue of North Texas Cement Company building a cement plant south of
Whitewright in Grayson County.
It is important for everyone to understand just how the Texas Natural
Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC) operates, and how much help
citizens can expect from the United States Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA).
The fundamental principle underlying the operation of both the EPA and its
representative TNRCC is that it is in the nation's best interest not to
disturb the economics of existing industry in order to preserve the health
of those locally subject to the pollution. Their present approach is to
clean up the worst polluters of a given industry, i.e. the worst of the
cement kilns, but they apply no pressure to the best. If the entire
industry presents health risks, then nothing is done for the health of
local citizens.
The EPA is only concerned with hazardous waste permits, so the EPA will
not be involved with the initial North Texas Cement Company (NTCC)
permitting process because NTCC is not initially requesting a permit to
burn hazardous waste as fuel.
In Texas, the TNRCC has been authorized to act on behalf of the EPA in the
area of air pollution. The TNRCC has no jurisdiction over noise, light
pollution, increase in traffic and loss of property value due to proximity
to an industrial site. These issues are handled by local zoning
ordinances. However, North Texas Cement has conveniently chosen its
proposed site outside city limits, where there can be no zoning
ordinances. Why are there no ordinances? Because in Texas only residents
of incorporated cities are given the basic tool for community planning:
zoning.
What about the health hazards? Doesn't the TNRCC have strict guidelines
for cement plants to ensure the emissions are safe to breathe? The TNRCC
uses a system called "Effects Screening Levels" (ESLs) for thousands of
chemicals to determine whether a facility will cause health damage to the
surrounding community. It is the basis for all the state's assurances of
safety to citizens from facilities (such as cement kilns) emitting toxic
air pollution. As long as any chemical's concentration in the air does not
exceed its ESL, the TNRCC states that no "adverse health effects are
expected."
Yet according to the first independent examination of the state's ESL
system ("Sacrificing Science for Convenience") "ESLs turn out to be
arbitrary numbers which have no sound scientific basis and reliance on
them is nothing short of dangerous." This new report is written by
scientists at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston and a
former state air quality engineer.
Another alarming factor, according to the UTMB report, is this ESL system
for risk assessment is reliant upon obscure federal occupational exposure
standards called Threshold Limit Values (TLVs). The TLVs themselves are
based not on independent epidemiological research, but on corporate
literature that has never been peer-reviewed. Despite warnings from the
authors of these TLVs not to use them in the establishment of "safe"
ambient air levels for the public, the TNRCC is doing just that. This is
exactly the equivalent of tobacco company studies showing that tobacco is
not addictive or harmful.
Jim Tarr, the environmental engineer who coauthored the study, concludes
that the regulatory system used by the TNRCC does not meet the six most
basic ethical tests that should be applied to government. In the meantime,
Tarr states "the public is left to suffer the unknown consequences of a
scientifically meaningless, bureaucratic endeavor."
If further proof is needed that the TNRCC is putting industry profits
ahead of public health, consider this: on September 11, 1995 a memo was
sent to the 15 Field Offices of TNRCC stating that they were no longer
allowed to perform unannounced annual inspections of major industrial
facilities such as cement kilns. The new policy called for announced only
inspections with a one to two week advance warning. This is the equivalent
of the highway patrol announcing the time and location of their speed
traps.
In the last couple years, the TNRCC has also had a history of denying
citizen participation in public hearings concerning industrial plants.
Examples are: South Odessa citizens and Rexene Products; Lubbock citizens
and West Texas Wilbert Vault Co.; citizens opposing Rainbow Materials
concrete batch plant; and citizens concerned about the Formosa Plastics
Point Comfort PVC Plant.
When the above facts are examined it becomes clear that the sentiment,
"There is nothing to worry about because the EPA and the TNRCC will look
out for us," lacks any real reassurance.
The EPA and TNRCC are quite effective in controlling small businesses.
They, for example, forced the closure of the only gasoline station on the
main street of Whitewright, but they have difficulty dealing with big
money, particularly when it funds so many Political Action Committees that
fund political campaigns.
What is the solution? What do concerned citizens like the supporters of
SWAT want to achieve? We will address these issues next time.
|Part 1| |Part 2| |Part 4| |Part 5| |SWAT Home Page|
HeraldDemocrat-4
Part 4
The Solution According to SWAT
The 1500 citizens who have signed a petition opposing the construction of
a cement plant in Grayson, Collin and Fannin counties don't have their
heads in the sand. They know society needs industry and society needs
cement. They also know something else: living near a cement kiln, any
cement kiln, is unsafe.
According to Dr. George Crawford, Professor Emeritus of Physics at SMU and
an expert on air pollution, the area within five miles of a cement plant
is a "High Danger Zone" and within twenty miles is a "Danger Zone," where,
he states, "There will be an increase in lung-related diseases: asthma,
bronchitis and emphysema. Those with a predisposition to respiratory
problems will be affected the most. Premature death will occur among the
weakest in the population."
So what is the solution? We need cement, and we need to protect the health
and welfare of all citizens, not just those that live outside these danger
zones. The only solution to this apparent dilemma, short of locating
cement kilns 20 miles from the nearest inhabitant, is for the cement
industry to clean up its act.
Unfortunately, the cement industry is being dragged, kicking and
screaming, into the twenty-first century. In all the full page ads and all
the public relations literature the cement industry produces, there is not
one mention of a cement kiln operator making any investment to reduce
pollution that was not mandated by government. And of all the dollars
spent on public relations and political campaigns, there is not one shred
of evidence that a single cent has ever been spent in pollution research.
This is not an industry leading us into the future. It is dragging us
down.
Actually, cleaning up cement kiln emissions is not all that difficult. All
they have to do is burn only natural gas. The only problem is that it
costs more than the alternatives: coal, tires, hazardous wastes.
Government is part of the problem. Cement kilns that burn tires are paid
by the state. Cement kilns were not designed to be incinerators, of
course, so the state even provided grants to pay for retrofitting to get
them to minimal standards. That process is part of the "Texas Tire
Recycling Program" and is a misguided attempt to solve the tire disposal
problem.
Some of our more brazen tire-burning advocates in and out of government
have the gall to call it recycling. Think about it. If I told you I was
recycling newspaper by burning it in my furnace, what would you say? How
can burning anything be recycling? And why should the state pay cement
kilns to burn an extraordinarily large Texas resource that might be used,
for example, in street and highway construction and maintenance? The great
State of Texas needs to find a more enlightened solution to its waste tire
problem.
Given the clear and present dangers of life near polluting industry,
citizens must be given the right to plan and control their communities
growth. In Texas, only incorporated cities can control their own growth
because only they have the right to create zoning ordinances. On
unincorporated county land, anything goes: junk yard, massage parlor, you
name it. Does it make sense to you that citizens' say in determining the
usage of neighboring land depends upon which side of a city border line
they live? It is time our legislators wake up to the fact that farmers
have the same concerns as city dwellers.
Finally, the EPA and its representative TNRCC must be insulated from
politics. They need the same power as the US Food and Drug Administration
and the same autonomy as Alan Greenspan. As it stands, both organizations
are run by political appointees, and thus must cater to the political
realities of campaign funding. Neither can be effective in regulating big
money.
In summary, a number of factors contribute to the ability of dirty
industry to locate in a neighborhood near you: unenlightened industry and
government, impotent regulators, inequitable community planning rights and
politicians for hire. The long term solution is to fix them all. For now,
the only promising avenue of pursuit for those in the danger zone of North
Texas Cement Company's proposed cement plant south of Whitewright is the
incorporation of the city of Bethel and zoning out heavy industry. The
election to incorporate and select a city council is May 3. We need your
support.
|Part 1| |Part 2| |Part 3| |Part 5| |SWAT Home Page|
HeraldDemocrat-1
Part 1
Who are the supporters of SWAT and why are they fighting a cement plant?
You may have seen something in this newspaper, on TV, or heard a neighbor
talk about a group of people going by the name of "SWAT" and wondered what
it's all about. Before getting into the details of how and why this group
formed, let me pose a few questions. What would you do if you found out
that a multimillion dollar company had been quietly trying to option land
to build a facility that would forever change the nature of your
community? What would you do if, after some investigation, you discovered
this industry could damage your health, decrease your property values,
increase traffic significantly, and contaminate the water supply? What
would you do if you found out your city officials seemed to be turning a
blind eye to all of this, or even worse, supporting this activity?
No doubt you would do what over 1400 area citizens have done in Grayson,
Collin and Fannin counties. You would begin by studying the problem. You
would talk to neighbors, talk to other people who live in similar
communities, talk to experts in the fields of concern, and then organize
to develop a plan of action.
"SWAT" stands for Save Whitewright and Tri-Counties, the organization that
formed in October of 1996. The reason? They discovered, rather suddenly,
that a cement company, North Texas Cement Company of Midlothian, had been
working quietly for months to win the favor of local politicians and
option 2500 acres of land in their community to build a quarry and cement
plant. So who are these SWAT people? They are doctors, nurses, moms and
dads, farmers, merchants, lawyers, realtors, grandparents, pastors,
electricians, plumbers, teachers, administrators and people from all
professions and walks of life from Grayson, Fannin and Collin counties.
Many of these people moved there to escape the big-city pollution. They
are not crazy, emotional environmentalists. The supporters of SWAT see
this as a public health issue, just as you would if you found out you
would be living in the "danger zone" from emissions and other problems
associated with cement plants. SWAT started with a few neighbors comparing
notes, and now, just six months later, SWAT has grown to more than 1400
supporters. They are just like you.
No doubt some of your questions are: "So, what exactly are the health and
economic concerns of this type of industrial activity? Isn't this industry
regulated by state and federal agencies? Won't these agencies ensure that
public health is protected? What is the solution? What does SWAT want to
achieve? These are good questions. Each one will be addressed in a series
of editorials to be published each week in this column. Next week the
health and economic impacts of living near a cement plant will be
addressed.
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