As a kid I lived a little less than a mile from the cement plant. Our house was always dusty, even though my mom was always cleaning. Even now living maybe 2.5 miles away I find the house is much dustier than when I lived outside of town.
But what is in that dust? Our cement plant burns tires and is rumored to be burning toxic waste. Even if it's just the tires one of the things it's releasing is dioxins. WHO has this to say about dioxins-
"Dioxins are environmental pollutants. They have the dubious distinction of belonging to the “dirty dozen” - a group of dangerous chemicals known as persistent organic pollutants. Dioxins are of concern because of their highly toxic potential. Experiments have shown they affect a number of organs and systems. Once dioxins have entered the body, they endure a long time because of their chemical stability and their ability to be absorbed by fat tissue, where they are then stored in the body. Their half-life in the body is estimated to be seven to eleven years. In the environment, dioxins tend to accumulate in the food chain. The higher in the animal food chain one goes, the higher is the concentration of dioxins."
And what are the health risks?
"Short-term exposure of humans to high levels of dioxins may result in skin lesions, such as chloracne and patchy darkening of the skin, and altered liver function. Long-term exposure is linked to impairment of the immune system, the developing nervous system, the endocrine system and reproductive functions. Chronic exposure of animals to dioxins has resulted in several types of cancer."Here are the pollutants the EPA says that the Ada cement plant is releasing: Ammonia, benzene, certain glycol ethers, chromium, diethanolamine, dioxin and dioxin-like compounds, ethylene glycol, lead, manganese, mercury, sulfuric acid, and zinc compounds.
The Ada cement plant is classified as a "high-priority violators" by EPA. It was fined $321,000 in 2005 for violating its pollution limits more than 1,000 times in a single year!
So what does this have to do with cancer? Well many of the pollutants that the cement plant releases are carcinogens. Carcinogens that the people of Ada are breathing in everyday. How much damage has already been done to my body and my families?
There is a bit of good news for those of us living near cement plants. The EPA will be cracking down on them because they don't adhere to Clean Air Act mandates that requires companies to use the "best technology available" to reduce pollution.
After doing all the research for this post I'm horrified. I told my husband I want to move and I'm sick to my stomach. I knew the pollution from this plant was bad, but I had no idea it was this bad. I hope the EPA will make cement plants clean up their act and stop pollution our cities and our bodies!
This post is for the Green Mom's Carnival. This month's topic is environmental links to cancer. Go to Nature Mom's Blog on March 8th to read what the other members had to say on this topic.
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12 comments:
I am so saddened to read this; it is shameful that the plant is still in existence. The total lack of concern for health and safety...I am so convinced that many of our illnesses (as adults and children) are a result of environmental pollutants. We all need to take a stand against this.
Excellent post!!!
Maybe you can get a local reporter to do an investigative piece on the plant and bring pressure to bear on the owners to clean it up. Breathing clean air is as much an individual right as anything else identified in the Constitution. Good luck!
Lisa, this is horrible. Look at the chemicals that this plant is creating. How about all the young children being effected by all this.
I like Diane's idea. I wonder if the learning issues at a nearby school have skyrocketed compared to areas with cement plants. Or the increase in illness?
Have you thought of doing an Op Ed piece for a major paper in Oklahoma?
Alyssa: It is very sad!
Diane: The local paper won't write about this. This is the 2nd biggest employer in the town. :(
Anna: I don't know if the Daily Oklahoman would publish it or not. Like I said to Diane this is a BIG company. I may try at some point but there was a huge group fighting them awhile back and they couldn't stop them so highly doubt I can.
Downwinders at Risk is a grassroots citizens group dedicated to reducing pollution from the nation's cement plant. We know the kiln in Ada well. It used to burn hazardous waste.
We're based in and around Midlothian Texas, which hosts the largest concentration of cement manufacturing in America. Some of our kilns still hold permits to burn haz waste. And like Ada, it's very much still a company town, despite being a suburb of DFW now.
Right now the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry is in Midlothian for the second time trying to determine why our illness rate is so high.
Anyone concerned about cement plant pollution is encouraged to follow our group via our Facebook page while our web site is under construction.
And Lisa is right, with any luck, these new EPA rules will require new pollution control equipment and may force older kilns like the one in Ada to be replaced by more modern, less polluting ones.
It is disheartening to read about another business that provides employment for people but at the same time slowly poisons them. Lisa, keep writing about this issue and make the company act in a responsible way.
I never considered cement plants as hazardous--but now that you mention it--the dust alone would be dangerous!
I can't even imagine having to live so close to a chronic polluter. This is absolutely horrific to have to live with. I'm with Diane — Has your local paper or TV station ever covered the potential health effects? Has a study ever been done? I feel an Erin Brockovich moment coming on....
That really is very upsetting. I can understand why you would want to move. Being exposed to all of those toxic chemicals is highly alarming.
I hope that the EPA is able to effect some positive change. It sounds as if it is long overdue. :(
Nicely written Lisa and understandably horrible. I wonder where one can actually live that is really "clean" I know for myself when i moved if never occurred to check out the surrounding area for polluting manufacturing - it's not like a city is going to toot that horn, ya know?!
Downwinders: I will be contacting you guys, thanks! It's always a bit sad to me that this small town is known to many environmental groups because of our cement plant.
Citzen Green: Yes it is and I will keep writing! I don't want them to shut down (we need cement!) but it's mostly the tire burning (which is just for extra money) that is so toxic and they also don't follow EPA rules. If they did both of those it wouldn't be so bad.
Green Girl: Yes toxic and annoying.
Jennae: When I was young a group tried to stop them from burning toxic waste and tires. I don't remember much from it because I was very young. The local paper doesn't like to do anything that goes against the grain and the local TV station isn't really local and hardly ever covers this town. :(
Amber: I'm hopeful! And yes it's very long overdue!
Karen: Yeah I know when/if we move from this area I want to make sure I'm not this close to a cement plant!
I live in Cupertino Ca. next to Lehigh Southwest Cement plant and quarry that has been polluting for 70 years. The EPA is not doing enough even with the new Mercury rules coming out. The Cement plants will say that it is unattainable and give them years to comply so in the meantime we are polluted. Cancer is now effecting one out of two people pretty soon it will be everyone getting cancer. I and two other groups are fighting to close down the cement plant and two quarries. They violate and pay fines they are rich and don't care about the public and the cancer, respiratory and other health problems they cause. Human life is more important than cement. This is not about cement of job it is about life and death when will they all understand this we need to fight them and make them stop all this pollution. The planet earth will be here in 50 years but I dought if the human race will. God Help our children and grand children.
Citizens Against Pollution - CAP
Look at web Quarry No. for more information.
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