Caledonia Argus

Tire burning plant will affect many, group claims

Posted: 8/12/03

by Andrew Miller
Argus News Reporter

A proposed tire burning plant in Preston has stirred up concern over the environmental effects it could have on Houston and Fillmore Counties.

Southeastern Minnesotans for Environmental Protection (SEMEP), a non-profit watchdog group based in Fillmore County, held an informational meeting about the tire plant in Houston on August 7.

Heartland Energy and Recycling, run by Preston resident Robert Maust, is planning to operate the tire plant in the Preston industrial park next to the ProCorn ethanol plant. The plant is expected to burn 103,000 tons of tires a year, or 396 tons per day.

Heartland has already obtained a conditional use permit from the city of Preston, as well as a permit from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) to build and operate the plant. Barring any complications in the coming month, Heartland plans to begin construction of the tire plant in mid-September. Heartland officials estimate the construction will take a few years.

According to informational materials handed out by SEMEP, MPCA guidelines allow Heartland to put two tons of pollutants in the air each day on average. Emissions from the 210 foot smokestack will include arsenic, beryllium, lead and mercury, and opponents worry that these pollutants will have serious health repercussions for area residents, such as an increase in asthma attacks and respiratory disease. SEMEP activists are also concerned that the air pollutants will affect not only Preston, but surrounding communities as well, including Houston County.

ìWeíd all be downwind from this plant,î said Donna Buckby, a spokesperson for SEMEP. ìNo one knows at this point the complete impact it will have, but all of Houston County will be affected.î

SEMEP activists also expressed concern that the air pollutants could hinder organic farming in the area. Air pollutants from the tire plant could contaminate feeds and animals, causing farmers to eventually lose their certification as organic producers, opponents to the tire plant say.

Heartland President Bob Maust sees the concerns of SEMEP as blowing facts out of proportion. The levels of pollutants that the MPCA allows are the maximum the plant could produce under law. In actuality, he said, emissions from the Heartland plant will be considerably less.

ìThe permitted amounts and the actual amounts are not the same,î Maust said. ìWe know we wouldnít want to run close to the permit levels.î

Emission levels from the tire plant, Maust added, will be monitored 24 hours a day, and the data will be charted on an MPCA website.

Maust underscored the fact that the MPCA has already approved the plantís construction and operation. ìThose people at MPCA are the experts,î Maust said.

SEMEP, however, has expressed disapproval of the process the MPCA goes about in issuing permits to potentially hazardous business facilities. While the MPCA sets up the guidelines for such facilities, it is the MPCA Citizensí Board that makes the final decision on whether or not to grant a permit.

The MPCA Citizensí Board, SEMEP has pointed out, is a panel of volunteers that lacks any specialists in pollution control, chemistry, geology, and environmental science.

A pamphlet distributed by SEMEP at the August 7 meeting stated, ìWhile it may be very noble of these people to volunteer their time, would any of us feel comfortable having an auto mechanic remove our appendix or having an interior designer replace the brakes on our vehicle? Most probably not! So, why should we allow the risk to the quality of our air, water and land use, by accepting the judgment from a volunteer, who doesnít have training or credentials to the issue?î

Last February, the MPCA Citizensí Board approved an Environmental Assessment Worksheet completed by Heartland, and decided that the Heartland facility didnít need the more extensive assessment known as an Environmental Impact Study (EIS). SEMEP contended that the Heartlandís EAW was inadequate, and has challenged the MPCAís decision in Fillmore County District Court. If SEMEP is successful, Heartland will be subjected to an EIS.

And if the appeal is successful and Heartland is required to undergo the EIS, Maust said, it will severely disrupt the project, since the EIS takes between two and five years to complete. Heartland has called for the appeal to be dismissed on grounds that it is moot and immaterial.

ìThe amount of information weíve supplied to the MPCA already, I donít know if thereís a lot more information that can be had,î Maust said.

But if the appeal is successful, Maust added, it will be Preston and surrounding communities who lose out.

ìWeíre going to be a pretty good neighbor to Preston,î he said.

The tire plant, he noted, will need 20-some employees. Personal income that Heartland generates will add over a million dollars to Prestonís yearly payroll. And jobs for truckers hauling the tires, and for construction workers who will build the tire plant, will also be a boon to the local economy.

The tire plant will also have positive effects from an environmental standpoint, he noted. The plant is unique in that itís designed to recover wire in tires, which is then used as scrap steel, and to recover ash from the tires, used in concrete. On average, Maust said, 40 of every 100 tires made end up in landfills. At Heartland, no tires will end up in landfills.

Kathleen Attwood, a SEMEP spokesperson, doesnít deny the claim that the plant could have many positive effects. But to know what overall impact the plant will have, she said, more information is needed. And what is required for this is the EIS.

ìI would love to say itís a wonderful plant and everybodyís going to live happily ever after,î Attwood said. ìI canít say the plant isnít a good idea, but I have so many questions.î

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