ERE Background Information
Erie Renewable Energy (ERE) proposes to have 100,000 dirty tires delivered to its central city site daily. That site is within ½ mile of 4 public schools. They will grind and incinerate 2 million pounds of tires per day and emit 8,000 lbs of toxic, one micron particles, out the 300 foot smoke stack every 24 hours for the next 40-50 years.Annual emissions total 2,900,000 pounds consisting of particulates small enough to be absorbed by humans The DEP does not regulate one micron sized particles even though they have been proven to be a greater health threat then larger particles.
Did You Know...?
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The New England Journal of Medicine reports that the odds of cardiovascular disease significantly increase with the increase of fine particle pollution.
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Along with significant Co2 emissions, 117 tons of ash will be need to be disposed of per day.
- ERE could store up to 1,000,000 tires at a time at its site. There is a history of catastrophic tire fires that have occured throughout the United States and Canada.
- The ERE business plan is to generate electricity and sell it to the grid. Is this expensive electricity needed? If the grid is forced to purchase the electricity at a higher price it will cost YOU the consumer.
- If the plant were built and was operating it would employ 60 people. But the emissions will threaten amongst others, the Curtze Food Corps 310 employees, Erie and Chautauqua County’s $350,000,000 grape, and agriculture industries.
- Lake Erie’s fresh water and fishing industry is adjacent to the plant and according to local and national biologists will suffer from this toxic operation.
- A small group of people have gathered seven thousand signatures to date from citizens opposed to the world's largest tire incinerator being built along Lake Erie.
On December 6 ERE filed their application for emission permit with the PA DEP.
In the permit it is estimated that 80% of the tires would be delivered via rail. There will be 70 trucks per day with no estimate of the number of rail cars.
- Thirty-two tons of bottom ash, and eighty-five tons of fly ash will need to be disposed of per day.
- There is only ONE small operating 100% tire burning incinerator in the United States!
- Reported in the Pittsburgh Tribune and the Erie Times News that the tires are not available to run this plant. They cannot get the tires to supply the plant. There are no tires.
