[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
RE: EPA ALLOWS CEMENT KILNS TO SPEW TOXIC POLLUTION
----------
From: Jane Williams[SMTP:dcap@qnet.com]
Sent: Monday, August 16, 1999 4:42 PM
To: 'dioxin-l@essential.rog'; 'mwg-mercury@igc.org'
Subject: EPA ALLOWS CEMENT KILNS TO SPEW TOXIC POLLUTION
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT:
August 16, 1999 Jane Williams, 661-256-0968
Jim Pew, Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund, 202-667-4500
ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL, EPA ALLOWS CEMENT KILNS TO SPEW TOXIC POLLUTION
Sierra Club Files Lawsuit to Protect Families from Airborne Poisons
WASHINGTON -- In an effort to cut pollution that causes lung diseases
and cancer, the Sierra Club today filed a lawsuit aimed at cutting the
amount of harmful chemicals spewed into the air by cement kilns.
Although cement kilns are among America's worst polluters, the federal
government has done very little to control the pollution they release
into our air. Because the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
has recently released standards that continue their do-nothing
approach, Sierra Club has asked a federal appeals court to force the
agency to take action to protect people from the release of mercury
and other dangerous chemicals.
"Cement kilns foul our air, land and food. These cement kilns make it
tougher for kids with asthma to breathe, fill our lungs with toxic
chemicals, and poison the food we eat," said Jane Williams, Vice Chair
of Sierra Club's National Waste Committee. "The government has been
asleep at the wheel, letting the cement industry pollute as much as
they can. Sierra Club's lawsuit will prod the government to wake up
and force cement-makers to stop poisoning our lungs."
In 1990, Congress passed amendments to the Clean Air Act requiring the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to set rules to control the
amount of pollution emitted by cement kilns. By the EPA's own
admissions, the standards set by the EPA will allow cement kilns to
continue to emit tons of highly toxic pollution. The rule will do
nothing to reduce emissions of mercury and fails to adequately limit
releases of dioxins and other chemicals that cause cancer and other
diseases.
Over 110 cement kilns operate in the U.S., producing "Portland
cement," commonly used for construction. These kilns are major
sources of highly poisonous persistent, bioaccumulative toxins
including mercury, carcinogens and particulate matter, small particles
that lodge deep in the lungs and cause respiratory disease. Cement
kilns burn large amounts of coal to fuel their enormous energy
requirements, and many also burn waste including iron slag, tires and
other materials.
"By completely failing to limit mercury emissions, the EPA's rule for
reducing pollution from Portland cement kilns flies in the face of the
Clinton Administration's Mercury Action Plan," Williams said. "The
EPA has not lived up to President Clinton's promises to make our air
cleaner and safer to breath."
"I don't think that the cement industry should have a right to poison
our air and sacrifice our community," said Betty Schmidt, a resident
of Lucerne Valley, California, which is home to the Mitsubishi Cement
Kiln. "Our air has been polluted, our quality of life worsened, our
properties devalued and our health compromised. We are not
expendable, and the EPA needs to curtail these toxic emissions."
"It's long past time for the cement industry to clean up its act,"
said Ross Vincent, whose hometown of Pueblo, Colorado, is the proposed
site of a new limestone strip mine and cement plant. Vincent, a
chemist and chemical engineer, chairs the Sierra Club's national
pollution prevention efforts. "Cement makers have lagged way
behind even mediocre performers in the industrial sector in reducing
pollution. The EPA's new rules won't do anywhere near enough to bring
cement kilns up to the reductions that Congress intended when it
passed the Clean Air Act."
Sierra Club, which is represented by Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund,
filed suit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
# # #
--- Internet Message Header Follows ---
Return-Path: <allen.mattison@sfsierra.sierraclub.org>
Received: from diablo.sierraclub.org ([207.90.163.2]) by mail.greenbuilder.com
;
Sun, 15 Aug 1999 20:14:23 GMT
Received: from ccsmtp.sierraclub.org (machine001.sierraclub.org) by
diablo.sierraclub.org (LSMTP for Windows NT v1.1b) with SMTP id
<0.FDC5919D@diablo.sierraclub.org>; Mon, 16 Aug 1999 13:10:20 -0700
Received: from ccMail by ccsmtp.sierraclub.org (ccMail Link to SMTP R8.00.01)
id AA934833484; Mon, 16 Aug 99 12:58:22 -0800
Message-Id: <9908169348.AA934833484@ccsmtp.sierraclub.org>
X-Mailer: ccMail Link to SMTP R8.00.01
Date: Mon, 16 Aug 99 15:13:47 -0800
From: <allen.mattison@sfsierra.sierraclub.org>
To: <neil_carman@greenbuilder.com>,
<chienne@aol.com>,
<saragael@alaska.net>,
<mfrost3997@aol.com>,
<bhager@mindspring.com>,
<sallyk@xyz.net>,
<maryek@mindspring.com>,
<kenwkramer@aol.com>,
<magpie@mcn.net>,
<ideacen@ns.gemlink.com>,
<sconyers@mountain.net>,
<llwillcox@aol.com>,
<dcap@qnet.com>,
<rossv@rmi.net>,
<#field-offices@sfsierra.sierraclub.org>,
<bob.bingaman@sfsierra.sierraclub.org>,
<#woe.managers@sfsierra.sierraclub.org>,
<kim.haddow@sfsierra.sierraclub.org>,
<debbie.sease@sfsierra.sierraclub.org>,
<dan.weiss@sfsierra.sierraclub.org>,
<#woe.writers@sfsierra.sierraclub.org>,
<michelle.artz@sfsierra.sierraclub.org>,
<dan.becker@sfsierra.sierraclub.org>,
<sean.cosgrove@sfsierra.sierraclub.org>,
<chris.douglas@sfsierra.sierraclub.org>,
<melanie.griffin@sfsierra.sierraclub.org>,
<annette.henkin@sfsierra.sierraclub.org>,
<kathryn.hohmann@sfsierra.sierraclub.org>,
<ed.hopkins@sfsierra.sierraclub.org>,
<jennifer.kurz@sfsierra.sierraclub.org>,
<daniel.lavery@sfsierra.sierraclub.org>,
<allen.mattison@sfsierra.sierraclub.org>,
<ann.mesnikoff@sfsierra.sierraclub.org>,
<mike.newman@sfsierra.sierraclub.org>,
<chris.norman@sfsierra.sierraclub.org>,
<sam.parry@sfsierra.sierraclub.org>,
<steve.pedery@sfsierra.sierraclub.org>,
<melinda.pierce@sfsierra.sierraclub.org>,
<terry.ryan@sfsierra.sierraclub.org>,
<dan.seligman@sfsierra.sierraclub.org>,
<tanya.tolchin@sfsierra.sierraclub.org>,
<dana.wolfe@sfsierra.sierraclub.org>
Subject: EPA ALLOWS CEMENT KILNS TO SPEW TOXIC POLLUTION
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
--
Green Homes For Sale: http://www.greenbuilder.com/realestate/
Green Building Pros: http://www.greenbuilder.com/directory/
Calendar: http://www.greenbuilder.com/calendar/
Bookstore: http://www.greenbuilder.com/bookstore