Kosmos Cement Wants to Burn Tires as Kiln Fuel

The following is posted at The Local Weekly:

Currently, Kosmos Cement Company uses coal as the primary fuel for operating our cement plant. To reduce our fossil fuel usage, improve the economic viability of our operations and to support Louisville Metro’s green initiatives, we are proposing to use tires (tire derived fuel: TDF) to replace up to 25% of our traditional fuels in the production process. Because we operate under a Conditional Use Permit, we are submitting an application to modify the permit to allow us to use TDF. As a result, we are hosting a public meeting with our neighbors to explain this process and the benefits it will offer, including the potential of reducing Kentucky’s tire waste stream by up to 3 million tires a year. We will also explain the permitting and approval process at that time and answer any questions you may have. The meeting will be held on: Monday, April 19th, 6PM at Farnsley Landing, 7410 Moorman Road, Louisville, KY 40272 Please feel free to contact Shannon Sherman Graves at 933-6331 regarding any questions or thoughts you may have. See you there.

I'm not an environmental expert by any means, but I think it is a little misleading to say your company wants "to support Louisville Metro's green initiatives" by burning tires. It is common knowledge that burning tires in the open is extremely harmful to human health and the natural environment. Why would it be any different in a cement kiln along with burning coal?  The fumes emitted are packed with the many toxic chemicals that tires contain, including volatile organic compounds such as benzene, metals such as lead, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons such as benzopyrene, and synthetic rubber components such as butadiene and styrene. Additionally, the chlorine content in tires leads to the creation of dioxins and furans (which are extremely toxic chemicals) when tires are burned.

"TDF" stands for "Tire-Derived Fuel", and it is not without serious consequences.  Look it up.  Please attend this meeting, listen politely, and tell them to shove those burning tires up their asses. Enough is enough.

LG&E's Cane Run Ash Pond : A Call To Action

This blog post was written by Jefferson County KFTC member, Beth Bissmeyer:

You might remember seeing a Jefferson County action alert about a Section 404 permit through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for a 5.7 million cubic yard coal ash site about a month ago. The Army Corps received well over 100 public comments--a higher number than the Army Corps is used to seeing for this type of project! But our work is not over! E.ON has to obtain several different permits for this project and they have now applied for a 401 Water Quality Certification permit through the Kentucky Division of Water to add a 60-acre coal combustion waste (CCW) landfill adjacent to the power plant. The public comment period for this is now open and ends THIS Friday, April 16th at 4:30pm.

The current CCW pond on-site at the Cane Run Power Station is one of 44 classified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as “high hazard” – meaning that a spill would result in significant damage or loss of life.

CCW is the solid waste left over from burning coal. CCW is a combination of waste from the coal plant’s air filters and the residue from coal boilers. The ashy part of the waste, called coal ash, contains concentrated pollutants, including many toxins known to cause cancer in humans.

The proposed permit would:

* allow 5.7 million cubic yards of CCW, which contains toxins known to be hazardous to human health, to be dumped on site. The U.S. EPA states that 1 in 50 adults and 1 in 100 children that live near CCW storage sites are at risk of developing cancer
* allow more than 3,000 feet of ephemeral and intermittent streams and 8 wetland areas to be filled
* allow use of an inferior containment liner that deteriorate over time, likely resulting in toxic chemicals leaching into groundwater
* ignore restoration requirements for 5 of the wetlands and require only minimal restoration for the other 3
* allow this waste to be dumped on land located at the end of the Ohio River floodwall, clearly in the river’s flood plain putting residents downstream at risk


Let the Kentucky Division of Water know that you oppose this permit!

**Please take action by April 16, 2010 deadline**

Send an email requesting that the Kentucky Division of Water to deny this permit to:

jesse.robinson@ky.gov

Put the Water Quality Certification agency interest # 2121 as the subject. Provide your physical mailing address and telephone number with your signature.

OR write to:

Mr. Jesse Robinson

Kentucky Division of Water

Water Quality Certification

200 Fair Oaks Lane

Frankfort, KY 40601

If You Want Blood, You've Got It

The first all-out assault on a Louisville mayoral candidate has arrived, courtesy of Chris Thieneman. "Shallow" Hal Heiner takes a beating on heinersheist.com.  Thieneman stomps Heiner's incessant claims of job creation and reminds voters of the nearly-forgotten scandal involving Heiner's company and the Technology Park of Greater Louisville (Naval Ordinance Station) while Hal was Chair of the Labor and Economic Development Committee.

FOX41 has the story HERE.

Shallow Hal & Co. maintain this is a desperate act by a man running behind in an election. What do you think about this tactic?

News From The Dept. of Fear & Doom

These are weird and unusually depressing times in the United States and the Commonwealth. Unemployment in Louisville has topped 12%, armed psychos in Oklahoma want to overthrow the government and are getting help from Republicans in that state's legislature, "Christian Warriors" are smoking crack cocaine and idolizing Hitler in Michigan, and, possibly most disturbing, it has been revealed that John Tesh was plugging Oprah Winfrey in the 70's.

I could sit here and bang out 1000 words on why we are doomed as a people and a nation but, no, we shall focus on positive news. Let me know if you find any.


Oh, and remember the  downtown "bike station"? It's back, and it's been renamed the "transit hub".