Rubber match
Protesters state their case in fight against plan to burn tires
Lydia Sorflaten is worried about the health effects burning tires would have on her community.
And she’s fighting the decision to allow them to be used as fuel at Lafarge, just as she fought over the same issue 10 years ago.
Earlier this year Divert NS approved a pilot program for the Lafarge Canada cement plant in Brookfield to burn tires.
“This has to be stopped now, before it goes any further,” said Sorflaten, who lives about 500 metres from the plant. “This was fully developed, funded, and brought forward in a very smooth format, secretly, without consultation with the community. “
She said burning tires is being seen as a way to reduce reliance on high carbon fuels, but there are dangers being bushed aside, such as heavy metals.
“Tires are high in chlorine and they form dioxins and furans when they’re burned in the kiln. They go into the air and dioxins build in the system and cause cancer.”
Tires are being burned in kilns in some other places, but Sorflaten said in Europe this is only done with shredded tires in stateof-the-art kilns. The Lafarge kiln is 60 years old.
Sorflaten is part of a group called Citizens Against Burning of Tires (CABOT) and has extensive research on the dangers of burning tires. The protest was held at Truro’s Victoria Square, across from the Divert NS offices.
Tires in the province were being sent to Halifax C & D Recycling for shredding and use as aggregate in construction projects. When people purchase a new tire, they pay an environmental fee to help cover costs involved in recycling.
“Nova Scotia has been a leader in recycling, and to take tires from recycling and burn them is a major paradigm shift,” said Mark Butler, policy director at the Ecology Action Centre in Halifax.
He said Divert NS should not diversify their customer base at the expense of the environment.
“They should hold to a high principle, which is to maximize recycling.
“They’re straying from their mandate.”
He feels that after the pilot project runs for a year and the company has invested money in the infrastructure needed to burn tires, it will be too late to stop it.
“If an individual came to me and said, ‘Hey, how do I get something approved in Nova Scotia?’ I might say call it a pilot and find a scientist.”
Gretchen Fitzgerald, national program director for the Sierra Club Canada Foundation, said the government of Nova Scotia made a wise choice 10 years ago when they decided to recycle tires.
“Here we are, 10 years later, making the opposite decision when, to my knowledge, nothing has changed.”
She noted that in Ontario, following a public review, burning was rejected.
“There are so many health implications that could come from using a cement kiln to do what it was not designed to do,” she said.
“We don’t think the local community here should be put at risk for what they’re calling a test burn – or any other burn.”
Truro-Bible Hill-Millbrook-Salmon River MLA Lenore Zann spoke out against burning and Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley MLA Larry Harrison said he is in favour of burning if it’s safe but if test results show it could be harmful, he will fight to stop it.
CABOT invited Divert NS to attend the event in Victoria Square and received an email stating, “While we appreciate the invitation, we respectfully decline.”