By BJ Austin, KERA News
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-911409.mp3
Dallas, TX – TXI, in Midlothian, is permanently closing its four oldest, most-polluting cement kilns. KERA's BJ Austin says that puts the company AND environmentalists on the same page, for once.
David Perkins, with TXI, says it was an economic and environmental decision to scrap the old kilns that burned hazardous waste. They've been offline for nearly two years, anyway.
Perkins: The units have been in operations for many years now. In fact, this next month, the Midlothian facility will have its 50th anniversary. And in order to look at the future, and to operate in a way that's the most energy efficient and also environmentally efficient, we made the decision to stop operating the wet kilns.
Jim Schermbeck is with Downwinders At Risk, which has fought pollution from the cement kilns for some 20 years.
Schermbeck: What it does do is take an enormous step in the right direction in reducing the total amount of pollution that people are exposed to by way of those cement plants; especially from facilities that did not have scrubbers, did not have very good particulate matter control.
David Perkins says TXI's newer kiln has much better pollution technology. The company plans to seek permits to modify the kiln to increase its production.
Perkins: The fact that we're able to produce more product, but ultimately should result in lower emissions at the facility, I think has some very good results that a lot of people are going to be very happy with.
Schermbeck says this leaves only one cement producer in Texas using the older "wet kilns". And, it's in Midlothian.
Schermbeck: Certainly with these new rules coming down in August, the pressure's going to be on them to respond in kind; to do the same thing that TXI did - to get out of the wet kiln business entirely.
In August, the federal Environmental Protection Agency is to announce stricter ozone limits - requiring the state of Texas to come up with new plans to cut ozone-producing emissions.