Dennis and Marcia Groce wrote:
Friends -
Thanks for the heads up, Jonathan.
One point you may want to be aware of - I believe this is to be a concrete batch plant. By my understanding (correct me if you know otherwise) they won't be manufacturing cement, per se.
This issue came up rather suddenly yesterday. Alcon, LLC is associated with Portland Cement.
You are correct in saying that cement manufacturing is a source of CO2, but I don't think a concrete batch plant (i.e., they mix cement with gravel, sand, and water to create concrete, which is then put in trucks going to a construction site) is a special source of CO2 - aside from the normal emissions associated with trucks. To manufacture cement (aka portland cement) they use huge gas-fired kilns to heat limestone to high temperatures. Lots of CO2 is produced in that process. As I said, I could be wrong, but that's my understanding.
Thanks for bringing this to my attention, indeed, the manufacturing of cement or pre-cement referred to as clinker would represent the major source of CO2. However, 1). we really have limited details at this point about exactly what Alcon, LLC has planed for the site, and Alcon, LLC is associated with Portland Cement. 2). We have limited time to respond based on our limited knowledge of the situation. 3). We can assume that particulates from a batch cement plant represent a health issue if proper environmental controls aren't used, and we haven't been told what these will be. 4). According to the press release **this Plant is estimated to have the potential to discharge 32.48 tons per year of particulate matter (PM) and 14.79 tons per year of particulate matter smaller than 10 microns (PM-10).* *5). This plant is being built literally right across the street from a future public school, at a distance still unconfirmed to us, and it is equally close to NAFTC and extremely close to a nursing home.
I think in this matter, we really need the DEP DAQ to recognize the importance of initiating a meeting with the public or at the very least extending the comment period. How many people really knew about this issue until just yesterday?
Jonathan
Dennis Groce
At 08:57 PM 5/6/2005, Jonathan Rosenbaum wrote:
This has been a very eventful day. I learned that two cyclists carrying the Scroll of the "Message of Peace, Health, and Justice" for the 2006 Olympics in Torino were making a stop at none other than the WVU National Alternative Fuels Training Consortium literally right around the corner from the pending batch cement plant. One of the main tenets of the scroll is that we must not be complacent about Global Warming, see http://www.slc2torino.com/pages/themessage.htm . Cement Plants are one of the worst offenders when it comes to CO2 output.
I grabbed a camera and took pictures both of the sign and entrance road already built to the pending site. If you look at the sign Alcon, LLC is from Buckhannon not Bruceton Mills as I incorrectly reported early. I also took photos of the Olympic scroll event. This tradition started back with the 1994 Olympics. I even talked to the Mayor about the pending cement plant. When I got back I learned to my horror from Duane that public input to DEP's DAQ division must be in no later than this Monday at 5 p.m.!
So please look at my photos at http://freesoftwarepc.com/Members/fspc/cement-plant and while doing so think of what is written in the scroll going to Torino, think about what kind of particulates and heavy metals people in the immediate area will be exposed to, this includes people in a nursing home, children in the new University High School, the workers at WVU's NAFTC, and recreational users. ACT FAST, VERY FAST to prevent this from becoming a reality!
Send your comments to Duanne or write to
*WV DEP Division of Air Quality Permitting Section 601 57th Street Charleston, WV 25304
*Telephone: 304-926-0499, ext. 1227. FAX: 304-926-0478
Thank-you very much,
Jonathan _______________________________________________ MVCAC mailing list MVCAC@cheat.org http://cheat.org/mailman/listinfo/mvcac