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PA EPA PROPOSES AIR TOXIC RULE FOR PORTLAND CEMENT PLANTS
Release Date: 03/13/98
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FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, MARCH 13, 1998
EPA PROPOSES AIR TOXIC RULE FOR PORTLAND CEMENT PLANTS
EPA today announced a proposed rule under the Clean Air Act significantly reducing emissions of air toxics from portland cement manufacturing plants. Portland cement is an ingredient in concrete, which is widely used in construction activities. Air toxics are those pollutants known or suspected of causing cancer, birth defects and other serious health effects. The proposal, which will affect 118 existing facilities nationwide and any new plants built in the future, would reduce emissions of arsenic, dioxin, lead and other air toxics by about 90 tons annually -- a 31 percent reduction from current levels. The proposal would also cut particulates (dust, dirt, smoke) by 5200 tons a year -- a 24 percent reduction from current levels, and hydrocarbons (some types are a prime ingredient in the formation of ground-level ozone) by 220 tons yearly -- a 38 percent reduction from projected future levels. The main source of air toxics emissions from a portland cement plant is the kiln, a large furnace that is fueled by coal, oil, gas coke or various waste materials. EPA emphasizes that kilns burning hazardous waste are not covered by today’s proposal; the Agency proposed a separate air toxic rule for hazardous waste kilns in April 1996 and intends to make it final late this year. Today’s proposal will appear soon in the Federal Register, but is accessible on the Internet at: https://www.epa.gov/ttn/oarpg. For further technical information, contact Joe Wood of EPA’s Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards at 919-541-5446, or e-mail at: wood.joe@epamail.epa.gov.
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