Province approves tire burning at Lafarge's Bath cement plant

(December 21, 2006: Toronto) – On Thursday evening, the Ministry of the Environment announced its approval of the Lafarge Alternative Fuels project in Bath, Ontario.

The government's approval allows Lafarge to import and burn up to 100 tonnes of municipal waste per day, including tires, meat and bone meal, and pelletized garbage. The approval also allows Lafarge to create a waste disposal site capable of storing up to 1,000 tonnes of municipal waste at a time. The site will operate 24-hours a day, 365 days a year, with up to 15 truckloads of alternative fuels arriving daily.

The Ministry of the Environment proposed a ban on tire incineration at the same time. This ban would prevent other facilities from applying for permits to burn tires and is based on the fact the Ministry, “had no experience monitoring the environmental performance of facilities that incinerate tires.â€

Lake Ontario Waterkeeper has filed several submissions on the Bath Alternative Fuels project in the last year, documenting numerous concerns about air and water emissions, as well as problems with the regulatory process.

Lake Ontario Waterkeeper is an environmental justice charity, dedicated to winning back the public's rights to safely swim, drink and fish in Lake Ontario.

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Contact: Mark Mattson President & Waterkeeper T) 416.861.1237 Cell) 416.666.8961

More information:

• Proposed ban on tire incineration is here

• Certificate of approval for waste site is here

• Certificate of approval for tire burning is here

• Waterkeeper's March 2006 comment on the project is here