Don Skinner Article - Meadville Tribune - April 19, 2012 Don Skinner, area environmentalist and columnist for the Meadville Tribune, recently wrote this excellent article in support of our cause.   Earth Day message was never more important for our county PA Outdoor News Article - February 17th, 2012 This article is a must-read if you like to hunt and fish in Crawford and Mercer counties. This article appeared in the most recent issue of Pennsylvania Outdoor News. The article speaks to the strong opposition that hunting and fishing groups have to the facility.        PA Outdoor News - Residents fight Geneva tires-to-energy plant  10 Questions and Answers About the Proposed Tire Burning Plant 1. Q: Why should I care about the proposed tire burning plant?     A: For Your Health      Anyone that lives near any massive facility that burns something all day should be concerned about potential health risks, and that’s especially true when we are talking about an operation like the one being proposed in Crawford County. Burning 90,000 tires a day leads to over 30 types of hazardous air pollutants entering our air every second, 24 hours a day and 365 days a year. These include cancer causing chemicals like dioxins and PCB’s and dangerous heavy metals like mercury and lead that can cause serious damage to the developing brains of young people. We owe it to ourselves and future generations of Crawford County residents to learn about the true nature of these toxins and the long lasting health risks of incineration.    To Protect Our Area’s Natural Resources      Our community’s greatest strengths lie in our natural resources. The Geneva Marsh, just a few miles from the plant, is the largest freshwater marsh in Pennsylvania and home to an abundance of important birds and fish. It is the largest breeding ground for bald eagles in our state, and also a vital tributary to French Creek. The area draws in outdoor lovers of all kinds, as it should. Area waters are already polluted heavily with PCBs and Mercury--- one need not look further than the Fish & Boat Commission’s Annual Fish Advisory which warns us of over 130 fish we shouldn’t eat more than twice a month. In addition to being a major source of air pollution, the tire burning operation will use 1.4 million gallons of water and create over 100 tons of toxic ash every day. These processes cannot be carried out without a cost to the environment. Once our resources have become contaminated, they remain so for several lifetimes. 2. Q: Isn’t the country suffocating in scrap tires?     A: No!      Historically, tires were hard to recycle and were piling up throughout the country. However, new technologies allow us to make many useful things from tires, including: Commercial products like flooring, belts, and shoes. Civil engineering products like rubberized asphalt, back fill and embankments, septic drainage systems, and retaining walls.  Crumb rubber products, making athletic tracks, auto parts, and even new tires.      In Pennsylvania, where CRE previously claimed the tires were coming from, the scrap tire market is strong and competitive. All of the tires generated annually are already being consumed. If they burned every tire in a PA scrap pile, their supply would dry up in just 4 months. Now they say the tires will be coming from states surrounding PA. To burn the amount of tires they propose each year, they would need 1 in 10 tires produced in the entire United States. Because scrap tire markets are regional due to transportation costs, this would be impossible. The question remains where the tires will come from. 3. Q: Don’t we need the energy?     A: No!      Pennsylvania already produces enough electricity for its residents, and currently exports its excess electricity to other states. The rest of the country need not rely on the tire burner either. Since 1993, the Department of Energy has published data that wind power can provide more power than the entire nation’s electricity needs. North and South Dakota alone have enough wind energy from their highest wind speed sites to supply over half the nation’s energy needs. Additionally, a person in the U.S. uses twice as much energy as a person in Japan or Europe--- countries with high standards of living. We could go a long way if we exercised a bit of conservation and efficiency. Most of our energy waste comes from industries using inefficient lighting and motors. 4. Q: Isn’t burning tires a form of renewable energy?     A: No!      Burning tires is not renewable energy. Calling it so is simply green washing. It is time to get serious about real renewable energy, which does not come from burning a tire that took seven gallons of oil to produce and is laden with toxic metals and chemicals. Real renewable energy comes from sources that replenish themselves- sun, wind, waves, tides, and geothermal. If we care at all about our health and environment, we need to stop making excuses and work towards emissions-free energy production. Despite what we are often told about the wind ceasing to blow and the sun setting, clean renewable energy can meet all of our needs- lack of investment and the fossil fuel lobby is keeping that from being the case. 5. Q: It has to be safe if the DEP permitted it, right?     A: Wrong.      Although the DEP is staffed by a very nice group of people, their function is not to protect public health. The DEP issues their permits based on technology standards, not health standards. None of the more than 30 types of pollutants coming from the proposed facility are considered safe for humans--- For example, PCBs were banned in 1979, yet CRE has been permitted to pump them into our air every second, not because they are safe but because the type of boilers CRE will use are considered better technology than other boilers. This does not mean that vast quantities of pollutants are not coming from the facility or that health risks don’t exist. Neither the DEP nor anyone else really knows what exact emissions will be until the facility is already built. At that time, DEP can fine the company for violating their permit, which still does nothing for humans exposed to the chemicals. 6. Q: Aren’t we safe from pollutants because CRE uses the “best technology”?     A: No!      The proposed facility will use “circular fluidized bed boilers,” equipment we are told is “state of the art.”  Truth be told, tire incineration (especially at this magnitude) doesn’t exist elsewhere, leaving claims about the technology largely unproven. Some studies actually show that burning tires in CFBs is worse than coal, with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), chlorine (and resulting dioxins, and furans), zinc, ash, and particulate matter emissions being higher. No matter what boilers are used, over 30 types of hazardous air pollutants will still be pumping out of their smoke stack 24 hours a day. Any chemicals that were spared from going into the air are washed into the 1.4 million gallons of cooling water they will use daily, or suspended in the more than 100 tons of toxic ash generated by the facility daily. No matter the technology, burning 90,000 tires per day still produces enormous amounts of pollution that will be emitted into air, soil, and water. 7. Q: What about jobs?     A:  We don’t have to accept damage of our health and resources in exchange for employment, and Crawford area residents would certainly welcome any forward-thinking company that wanted to set up shop here. But if we were to accept the world’s largest tire burning plant, what type of companies will find our area attractive? What standard are we setting for ourselves? Those working at the plant will experience the greatest health risks of anybody. These are not the kind of jobs we should be desperate for, especially when states like California have demonstrated that recycling tires is far better for the economy than burning them. Further, CRE has never performed a detailed man-power study to back up their claims about the number of jobs they are purporting. Additionally, communities hosting an incinerator lose through decline in property values. Houses aren’t so attractive when an incinerator is next door. 8. Q: Isn’t it too late to stop this since the DEP granted the company an air permit?     A: No!. We can still stop the incinerator!      Two area residents have filed an appeal of the DEP’s issuance of the permit, outlining 15 objections to the data within it. All materials regarding the appeal are available at www.stopburningtires.com including: CRE’s application for the permit DEP’s draft approval of the permit The appeal against the permit Where to donate to support the appeal 9. Q: What else can be done to stop this facility?     A: Tell your local elected officials that you do not want the world’s largest tire incinerator in our community. If you live in Greenwood Township contact: Cecil L. Stevenson, stevensonent@mdvl.net Roland Wood, rwood02@zoominternet.net Diane P Adsit, adsitdp@windstream.net If you live in Crawford County contact: Francis F. Weiderspahn, Jr (814) 333-7400 Jack Lynch (814) 333-7400 C. Sherman Allen, e-mail: sallen@co.crawford.pa.us, (814) 333-7400 10. Q: Where can I learn more?       A: www.stopburningtires.com   |   www.energyjustice.net

What Can We Do With Scrap Tires?

PUBLISHED: JANUARY 28, 2012 08:44 AM

Funding the Appeal of the Air Quality Permit

     As you probably already know, the PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) recently issued an Air Quality Permit (posted at www.stopburningtires.com) to Crawford Renewable Energy (CRE) for its proposed 100-megawatt tires-to-energy plant in Crawford County. CARE believes there's a basis to win an appeal to the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board, and we are asking for your help in funding the appeal.

     This appeal remains the last hope for addressing the permit for the proposed facility.  It will make the plant cleaner and safer if it is built.  Our CARE members, Dr. Robert Concilus M.D. and Leah Humes, are following the legal avenues open to fight for the environment and safety of Northwestern Pennsylvania (and beyond).  The possible contamination of Geneva Marsh could cause irreplaceable loss of a regional environmental resource.  Unopposed construction of this plant will encourage construction of similar facilities in the region and in the country.

Your donation will help us reach our goals and support the appeal filing efforts, expert witness costs, and other expenses. With your help, we can win this appeal!

There are two ways to donate:

Donate using Paypal Mail your donation to CARE             CARE PO Box 43 Cochranton, PA 16314 Donations are not tax deductible.

Crawford Area Residents for the Environment