Crowd comes out for protest against tire-derived fuel

cmon

- November 22, 2010 at 16:31:41

Questions: What happened to utilizing the 'green' power source that is the Deer lake hydro station? What are the current emissions from the mill as a result of burning bunker C? What are you going to do if one of the major employers in town is shut down? How come nobody has organized a protest re: utilizing Bunker C as an energy source? What do you suggest the 'world' does with the tires? Has anyone spoken directly with anyone from the mill regarding the issue? After being given a rallying point, do you as a community feel more united now?

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Ryan

- November 22, 2010 at 16:30:39

To CMON: At least these people are using the products to try making a difference for the good. Go crap on someone else, man, you're sounding like an immature brat when you make comments like these.

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Brad

- November 22, 2010 at 16:15:11

Eh, they were done five years ago by our long gone predecessors at the Union. Just reusing them now, which really is the saddest part... that we have to. While I agree, using such paint was not a grand idea back when it was done, we've tried to make up for that by keeping them around, just in case. Looks like, we made a good call there.

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JPB

- November 22, 2010 at 16:14:48

75 people from a city with a population of over 20,000 is not exactly a display of overwhelming support for your cause...

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really

- November 22, 2010 at 16:13:49

A lot of the protesters went to the information session, actually. As well, you have no idea what type of paint they used, as you were obviously not involved in their creation. The fact of the matter is the idea of tire burning for fuel has not been researched nearly enough to be put into practice on such a small scale, and the number of toxins they have found ways to keep out of our air pales in comparison to the toxins in these tires. There is absolutely no reason to support corner brook tire burning at this point, at least not until more research has been done and more safety measures have been put into place. honestly, how can anyone be for the potential poisening of our city.

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Concerned Student

- November 22, 2010 at 16:12:29

Burning tires is such a 20th century idea. It’s incredibly short sighted to burn tires when there is no clear indication that it’s going to be safe. People are seriously concerned that this may affect them, and rightly so. As for the commenters above… many of these people did attend the sessions, which provided little confidence in the tire burning methods and guarantees that it could be done correctly. As for Jay and CMON… that is the worse argument I have ever heard… ever. If we had to rely on things produced in the area… we would be all living in paper covered twig shanties and not on the internet. Almost everything has petroleum by-products in it. These people made much more of a difference then a couple of internet trolls who don’t know the issues. Congrats to the organizers of this event… a job well done. No matter what the people on these comment boards say. P.S. Those signs were reused from the protest almost exactly five years ago.

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Educated

- November 22, 2010 at 16:10:10

How many of the protestors arrived at the protest in a vehicle and then when the protest was over returned home in a vehicle? Has any of them looked at the amount of pollution produced by the vehicles they drive? Look at the older vehicles still on the roads today that produce pollution beyond the acceptable limits of society. I would venture to say that the amount of pollution that comes out of the stacks at the mill is less then the pollution produced by the vehicle traffic in Corner Brook on an average day. I see so many people driving their vehicles with only one person in them and a great number of them going to work or school at the same place. How hard is it to find a parking place at the university,Cona, Acadamy Canada or any government building these days? Cut out some of this type of transportation and you would see a much greater reduction in harmful pollution. Go ahead and measure the emmisions from your car which burns carbon based fuels and nothing else. I can see the clean burning of tires as a way to remove these tires from the enviroment. There were many bonfires over the past 2 - 3 weeks - how many of those had tires being burned with no contaminents being removed? The results will never be known but I am sure that the effects are more harmful then burning them in a controlled enviroment. Who would like to have their taxes increased to cover the removal of the 2 million tires if they were to catch on fire and cause a major enviromental problem where they are being stored. Lets do the trial and go from there. The small percentage being used for this test are probably less then what was burned on bonfires all across the province, not just here in Corner Brook

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ecoman1949

- November 22, 2010 at 15:57:59

It's interesting to see members of the general public falling victim to misinformation, and media hype surrounding the tire burning issue. It reminds me of the seal hunt hype generated by the media and organizations like PETA. From a technical perspective, the bark burner at the mill is quite capable of burning the tires with minimal environmental impact. The real issue here is the long term montioring required by the mill and the provincial environment to ensure the process is working correctly, and, if upsets occur, ensure that the public is aware of the situation, and the problem is corrected as quicky as possible. Otherwise, the whole process has no credability. Environmental monitoring and enforcement in NL has a poor history. The Long Harbour Phosphorus Plant operations and the Baie Verte Asbestoes mine sites are two examples that come quickly to mind. The provincial government and the MMSB have failed to come up with a viable way to recycle the tires, hence the need to get them out of site and out of mind as quickly as possible. As a resident of Corner Brook, I hope the provincial government steps up to the plate and properly monitors the tire burning if it's allowed to proceed. It's also interesting to note that none of the city councillors have had the courage to come forward and voice their opinions, either negative or positive, on the tire burning issue. Not surprising, considering that the new council chamber in the glass palace overlooks a harbour into which millions of litres of untreated sewerage is regularly dumped. If they can turn a blind eye to that, they can turn a blind eye to anything.

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Edward Smith

- November 22, 2010 at 15:53:57

Congratulations to Ms Kelly George and her family for speaking up. Joseph Kruger's proposal is appalling. Burning tires went out with hoola hoops and bobby socks. There are thousands of uses for old tires once broken down into rubber crumb. For example, in California rubber crumb is added to asphalt and used on highways. California gets heavy snow falls and bitter cold in the north and hot weather in the south. The asphalt with rubber added is more flexible in winter conditions and can withstand summer heat. Rubber crumb is used to make mats for industrial use, or for farms buildings that house animals, etc. It is also used as an environmentally friendly back fill when building new highways. The real problem with burning tires at high heat is that scrubbers in the smoke stacks have to be checked and/or cleaned periodically. This costs thousands of dollars. Unscrupulous high temp incinerator owners hide inspection records and postpone or cancel inspections or cleanings when the public are not looking -- all to cut costs. A single inspection alone can easily reach upwards of $10,000. To my knowledge, a high temp incinerator could require three or four inspections a year. Even then, if the scrubbers are inspected and found not working, the public are rarely informed. The other issue is toxic ash. Where will it be sent? Surely not to the landfill in Wild Cove. It could not be transported without being blown all over the city or surrounding area. It would cost hundreds of dollars per tonne to treat it prior to dumping in the landfill, if indeed new provincial environmental rules for landfills even allow it. Toxic ash from high temp incinerators has very fine particles which, once in our lungs, will never leave for life. The fine particulate is linked to non-Hodgkins lymphomas and other cancers in humans, including leukemia in children. Where is Western Health, Corner Brook City Council, MHA Danny Williams, the instructors in the Enviro Technology program at the College of the North, the instructors in the Enviro Studies program at Grenfell College, and the staff of Environment Canada located in the J. R. Smallwood Building in Corner Brook? What are they saying? Their silence is deafening....

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Corner Brook Resident

- November 22, 2010 at 15:51:58

We did attend the information sessions and we were not satisfied by the way they danced around with their answers and didn't directly answer what was asked. They kept saying that they will not know much until they test it out but when it all comes down to it they are burning tires and when has burning tires ever been good for the environment? We do not want TDF in Corner Brook!

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Education Girl

- November 21, 2010 at 11:56:38

" the protesters are not comfortable with the unanswered questions they have about the long-term effects of burning tires on air quality." Just a thought, but maybe some more of them should have attended the information session. Then they wouldn't have so many unanswered questions.

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jay

- November 21, 2010 at 11:55:30

But the paint wasn't produced in Corner Brook

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cmon

- November 20, 2010 at 21:58:59

....and by the way, you do realize that the paint you used to paint those effective signs pictured above were done using petroleum products. Way to make a difference!

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  The Guy in the Orange Coat

  - November 22, 2010 at 16:14:04

  Those signs were recycled from the last protest, five years ago. So no further environmental damage was done.

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  rworried

  - November 22, 2010 at 16:12:18

  I'd like to know why more industries aren't using tires as a fuel..maybe it isn't environmentally friendly and the locals wouldn't let them get away with it..whereas in Corner Brook anything seems to go...Kelly- don't give up!!!