Tire burn called off before end of scheduled testing
TICONDEROGA, N.Y. --International Paper Co. concluded a test of tire-derived fuel at its mill along the Lake Champlain shoreline a week early Tuesday after finding that the process was not economically feasible in the long-term.
IP was performing the test to determine whether scrap tire chips could supplement fuel oil and wood scraps to power the plant's boiler.
The company decided to stop the test burn after watching the levels of particulate emissions rise, spokeswoman Donna Wadsworth said. The company remained in compliance with environmental permits during the test, but found that particles produced through a combustion process and released into the air were higher than desired, she said.
"Throughout this process, our goal has been to balance the economic benefits of the project with our commitment to manage our environmental footprint in a responsible manner," Wadsworth said in a written statement.
The company was given a temporary burn permit from New York environmental officials in September despite concerns from officials in Vermont, who said the plant's smokestacks could emit toxic heavy metals and other pollutants that would blow eastward over their state.
Vermont state officials tried unsuccessfully to block the test in federal court.
Paul Burns, executive director of the Vermont Public Interest Research Group, described the end of the testing as a "major public health victory." VPIRG has opposed the tire-burning since IP proposed the idea more than three years ago.
"The data clearly showed that burning tires was producing a lot more pollution than company officials had anticipated," Burns said. "They did the right thing by shutting down."
IP's decision has likely ended the long fight between the company and the public over the test's potential environmental ramifications. For now, IP has abandoned all plans to burn tires for fuel at the site, Wadsworth said.
"I think the public should be respectful of the decisions we made," she said. "We committed to doing the trial in complete compliance -- we did that. We committed to stopping the trial if there was any possibility of not being in total compliance, and we did that."
Despite the decision Tuesday, many citizens still felt anger over the way the company handled the testing process, according to a statement issued by Vermont's congressional delegation.
"IP's decision to abandon its test burn of tires is positive news, but we believe Vermonters should not have been subjected to these emissions in the first place," the statement said. "We remain extremely concerned that the available data suggest that pollution levels from the weeklong burn approached the permitted limit and exceeded IP's expected levels."
The burn approached permit limits and exceeded the company's scientific projections, but emissions never exceeded the permits, Wadsworth said. The company stood by its commitments and acted responsibly in carrying out the test and calling for its conclusion, she said.
"I would hope as people step back they would set aside emotions and look at this from an analytical and scientific point of view and understand (this) was a scientific process," Wadsworth said.
