Ash Grove to burn more tires

Puget Sound Clean Air Agency allowed cement maker to operate on expired permit for years

Ash Grove Cement operates north of Georgetown. The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency recently allowed it to burn more tires. Environmental advocates fear that will cause more pollution in the Duwamish Valley.

A cement plant in the Duwamish Valley has operated on an expired air quality permit since 2009. 

The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency is reviewing the permit to see if Ash Grove Cement Co.  operations comply with federal law and clean air standards. Yet, in early December, the PSCAA gave Ash Grove the go-ahead to burn more tires to power its kiln. And the agency has allowed the plant to operate for years without an updated permit. 

Environmental groups said the PSCAA relied on irrelevant, decades-old analysis in deciding to allow more tire burning. They say the PSCAA “put the cart before the horse” and should have first ensured Ash Grove complies with current state and federal standards, especially given the company’s history of other violations. They appealed the decision to a state environmental panel on Jan. 2.

“Ash Grove is one of the largest polluters in the Seattle area, and now, with [the] decision by our regional clean air agency, the company will be allowed to increase the amount of dangerous pollutants they emit by burning more tires,” Mia Ayala-Marshall, the Duwamish River Community Coalition Clean Air Program manager, said in a press release. “For too long, regional regulators have allowed Ash Grove to pollute our air to the detriment of Duwamish communities. Now, this decision puts the health of Duwamish Valley families at even greater risk.”

Georgetown and South Park have a higher rate of childhood asthma and lower life expectancy than other Seattle communities. 

Permit modification approval challenged

Ash Grove is just north of Georgetown and is easily seen by drivers on East Marginal Way S or the West Seattle Bridge. It burns a mix that includes natural gas and tires to heat its kilns. The percentage of tires in the fuel mix was limited to 30 percent, but can now be raised to 37 percent daily. 

Without proper controls, burning tires can pollute the air with harmful substances including particulate matter, mercury, sulfur and dioxins. They can contribute to diseases such as asthma, cancer, and heart disease.

In approving the permit modification, the PSCAA determined that when Ash Grove burns more tires the combustion inside the kiln and company controls will not increase pollutants in the air. In an emailed statement, a PSCAA spokesperson confirmed the approved permit modification and stated the increase “is not expected to increase emissions, and may reduce some pollutants.” She added PSCAA will require Ash Grove to conduct emission testing for pollutants including particulate matter, arsenic, lead, dioxins and other pollutants.

Opponents at the DRCC and Earthjustice argue the PSCAA errored in its decision. Rather than conducting an environmental analysis establishing current emissions levels mandated by state law, they say PSCAA relied on analysis from 1995 focused on greenhouse gasesꟷnot toxins from burned tires like sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide. They also say PSCAA did not require Ash Grove to test if burning more tires would increase pollution. 

“Tires are a really dirty fuel and we are concerned about toxins impacting people in the Duwamish Valley. We didn’t see any data” that emissions would not increase, Ayala-Marshall said.   

The Washington State Pollution Hearings Board is scheduled to hear the case in November. 

Air operating permit under review

Ash Grove’s Air Operating Permit has been out of compliance with federal emissions standards for years. It expired in 2009. In 2013, the Environmental Protection Agency strengthened clean air standards so, for more than a decade, PSCAA allowed Ash Grove to operate outside of current federal regulations. 

A loophole in federal law allows a permit holder to operate as long as they submit a permit renewal application within 60 days of expiration. It appears Ash Grove did this several times. As a result, Ash Grove has operated on a permit that is not updated to account for particulate matter, dioxins, hydrocarbons, furans and other pollutants now regulated. 

The PSCAA spokesperson confirmed the start of a review of Ash Grove’s air operating permit, which will take several months. A public hearing is scheduled for 4 p.m. Feb. 9. 

The same spokesperson did not respond to a follow-up email from the Gazette asking why 16 years passed since the last approval.

The Gazette attempted to ask Ash Grove about the 16-year expired permit, how their operations would prevent an increase in emissions when burning more tires, and to respond to the DRCC’s criticism of Ash Grove and the permit decision.  

A spokesperson in Florida for Ash Grove’s parent company, CRH plc (NYSE: CRH), issued a four-paragraph statement that did not answer the questions. Instead, the statement said, raising the amount of tires in the burning fuel mix would “align with industry best practice.”

For more information or to comment on PSCAA’s Ash Grove air quality permit renewal, click here.

For more about PSCAA’s permit modification for Ash Grove to burn more tires, click here.