The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has withdrawn authorization for the LafargeHolcim Ravena cement plant to burn tires for fuel, reported local media.
“We are modifying this facility’s Title V air permit to remove the authorization to burn tire-derived fuel, or TDF. The Lafarge facility currently lacks the infrastructure to burn TDF, and has not, nor has it ever, completed the steps necessary to burn tires pursuant to this permit,” the agency said in a prepared statement.
Burning tires at the Ravena plant would have replaced up to 20% of the fossil fuel used to fire the cement kiln, which was rebuilt in 2017 as part of a multimillion dollar modernization project.
Local environmental advocates have long opposed the concept of burning tires at the Ravena plant, citing concerns that pollutants such as dioxins, particulates and metals would be released during incineration and the plant may not have the capacity to contain them. These concerns prompted the Albany County Legislature to pass a clean air law in 2019.
LafargeHolcim had not indicated whether it would appeal the state DEC decision at press time.
