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Clearing the Air in Coeymans: Community Forum on Clean Air vs. Tire Burning
February 9, 2021 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm EST
Hold this date for the Coeymans Community Clean Air Forum!
Lafarge/Holcim wants to burn millions of tires every year at their Ravena cement plant opposite the Ravena Coeymans Selkirk middle and high schools on Route 9W. In 2019, the Town of Coeymans adopted a Clean Air Law to establish clean air standards for waste burning facilities. The law requires continuous monitoring of 19 serious pollutants, and places other restrictions on burning by any facility. This law defends the public from emissions containing highly toxic dioxins, sulfur, lead particulates, benzene, carbon monoxide, and more.
On November 19, 2020 the new business-backed Town Board held a public hearing on their decision to amend the Town’s Clean Air Law . These amendments would strip the strong pollution protections in the law and pave the way for any business to burn massive amounts of tires and waste. On November 23, the Town Board unanimously passed the amendments after only one public hearing and very little notice to town residents struggling in the middle of a pandemic.
As a result, the Town of Coeymans is now the only town within the County of Albany where hazardous waste and tires can be burned in spite of the Albany County Clean Air Law prohibitions. Since the amendments to the clean air law went into effect immediately, Lafarge/Holcim can now add the burning of tires to the waste it is already burning in the town.
Among the issues to be discussed in this community forum, moderated by WOOC 105.3 FM correspondent Corinne Carey, include:
- Overview of LaFarge’s history as a polluter
- The Albany County Clean Air Law, Amendments to the Coeymans Clean Air Law, and the Permissive Referendum
- Health threats of burning tires and waste for fuel vs. coal in cement kiln incinerators
- LaFarge’s threats of job loss or even closing the plant
- Coeymans Town Board misrepresentations to voters
- Why the DEC and EPA does not protect us, using the Norlite hazardous waste incinerator in Cohoes as an example
- There will be plenty of time for Q&A
PANELISTS
Attorney Carlo A.C. deOliveira is a Ravena resident. He is actively involved in the community’s Ravena Soccer Club Board and volunteers as a coach during the year and most recently with the Coeymans Clean Air Coalition.
Matt Miller is a Selkirk Resident and Regents and AP Biology teacher in the Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk Schools. He is serving his first term in the Albany County Legislature representing the 36th Legislative District, Committee Assignments: Conservation, Sustainability and Green Initiatives, Health
Jane Williams is the Chair of the National Sierra Club Clean Air Team. She is an environmental policy expert with 30 years of policy and advocacy experience. She has extensive knowledge on incinerators. (Photo: Earth Justice)
Joseph Ritchie is an environmental justice advocate and the Executive Director of Saratoga Sites Against Norlite Emissions. He is a student at Syracuse University studying Environmental Policy.
Moderator Corinne Carey is a political & public affairs strategist taking on bold public health initiatives backed by sound evidence & human rights. She is a regular correspondent for WOOC 105.3 FM.
Sponsored by the Coeymans Clean Air Coalition and the Hudson Mohawk Environmental Action Network.
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