PSCAA reverses Ash Grove permit to burn more tires

After tests, clean air agency decided burning more tires is a bad idea

The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency approved a permit in December to allow Ash Grove Cement to burn more tires. It reversed the decision in June after tests revealed more toxic metals.

The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency reversed its decision to allow Ash Grove Cement Co. to build a kiln to burn more tires to heat its cement kilns.

The PSCAA permit issued last December would have removed a 30 percent limit on tire burning. Tire burning releases particulate matter, heavy metals and hazardous air pollutants causing respiratory, cardiovascular, cancer and other chronic health conditions.

Advocacy by the Duwamish River Community Coalition and other groups led PSCAA to add air pollution testing to the permit conditions. Testing in June at Ash Grove showed an increase in cadmium, a carcinogen. PSCAA reinstated its 30 percent limit on tire burning to prevent an increase in metal emissions.

“Without the overwhelming outcry from the Duwamish Valley community, DRCC, and our partners, PSCAA would have allowed this modification to occur without proper testing, further exposing our community to more dangerous air pollution that impacts our health,” said Mia Ayala-Marshall, DRCC Clean Air Program Manager, in a press release.