Cement Plant Gets OK to Double Use of Toxic Waste

State health officials have cleared a controversial cement plant near Gorman to nearly double the amount of hazardous waste the plant burns for fuel, after concluding that the resulting emissions will not endanger neighbors.

The state’s decision, announced Monday, was a victory for the National Cement Co.’s Los Robles plant, the only facility in the state permitted to burn hazardous waste as a fuel in manufacturing cement. The company has said the process is an innovative and safe way to eliminate the wastes, such as paint, industrial solvents, lubricants and other substances.

Company officials said Monday that the plant was again starting to burn close to its permitted level of 1,200 gallons an hour of liquid wastes. The plant had been voluntarily using only about half that amount since last October while state health officials conducted their review.

The review concluded that people who live nearby do not face an increased risk of cancer when the plant burns larger quantities of hazardous wastes, said Val Siebal, regional administrator for the state Department of Health Services.

However, environmentalists and nearby residents whose complaints spurred the state inquiry said they still believe the plant’s burning of hazardous wastes poses a health threat. They vowed to continue fighting to ban hazardous waste fuel.

Before the plant cut back on its burning of wastes last fall, some nearby residents had been complaining of respiratory and other medical problems. “Now, I’ll guarantee you within two months the symptoms are going to come back,” said Helen Thornburg, a Lancaster-area resident who is one of the leaders of the drive against hazardous waste burning.

National Cement Co. President Don Unmacht called the state’s decision “reasonably good news.” But Unmacht said he expects continued strong opposition. “We still have a long way to go to continue burning hazardous waste as fuel. I don’t think we’re out of the woods.”

The company’s five-year state permit to burn the hazardous wastes will expire next April, and the company plans to file for renewal this October, Unmacht said. As part of that process, state health officials said they will require an even broader environmental review.

Under its permit, the plant can obtain 40% of its fuel needs from hazardous wastes. National, the owner of the plant, and Systech Environmental Corp., which supplies the wastes, had been fined more than $450,000 since last October for burning amounts that exceeded that limit.