Most Boulderites consider recycling to be a good thing. But when local cement plant Cemex starts "recycling" tires by burning them for fuel, it's time to rethink the issue.
Last week Boulder District Judge Roxanne Bailin upheld Cemex's permit to burn tires as an energy source. The company had previously used coal as a source of fuel for its factory. However with the price of coal rising, the company has decided to burn waste tires, a plan Cemex flirted with more than a decade ago. Not only will the company save money on coal, they'll actual bring money through the door by getting rid of waste.
The official line from Cemex is that burning tires is good for the environment. Waste tires otherwise end up in landfills and pose serious environmental problems. The company says it will be "recycling" about one-fourth of Colorado's four million used tires.
However community members surrounding the Lyons factory, which last year faced the largest fine in its history for air-pollution-control violations, are concerned. They don't trust managers at Cemex to be conscientious, environmentally pro-active tire-burners. And they fear that burning tires in a cement kiln, as opposed to a toxic-waste incinerator, puts them at risk.
According to environmentalists, tire-burning releases lead, mercury, particulate matter and dioxins into the air. While no jogger or biker likes breathing Cemex's chemical potpourri, the World Health Organizations says that one chemical released from tire burning—dioxin—is harmful to human health, no matter what the level is.
Cemex says that it will start burning tires sometime soon, but it has not issued a specific date. While legal avenues may be worn out, maybe concerned citizens in Lyons and the surrounding communities should focus their efforts on bringing Cemex's Mexican owners to the Colorado factory. If tire burning isn't going to harm the environment, then the company's CEO surely won't mind being the first one to take a deep breath from his company's stacks.