Texas Cement Plant Pulls Tire-burning Request

JOHN McFARLAND

DALLAS (AP) — A cement factory near Dallas has withdrawn its state request to burn about 145 million pounds of old tires a year, citing a federal crackdown on the Texas air pollution permitting process.

Texas Industries Inc. spokesman David Perkins said Friday that the company scrapped the plan in part because it applied for a type of permit that the Environmental Protection Agency last month ruled was not in compliance with the Clean Air Act.

The company planned to use old tires as fuel at its plant in Midlothian, one of three area plants that make up the nation's largest concentration of cement factories. Perkins said the plan would have been beneficial because tires burn cheaper and cleaner than coal and need to be disposed of somehow.

Environmental groups, elected officials and residents lobbied the EPA to halt the permit, arguing it would allow more toxins to be released into the air. The company withdrew the permit Tuesday, but Perkins said it hopes to revive the project.

The plants produce 6 million tons of cement a year. According to the most recent EPA statistics, the plants in 2007 emitted about 300 tons of sulfuric acid, nearly 20 tons of benzene, and smaller amounts of mercury, chromium, manganese and other chemicals.