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<br /> <br />Problems with regulating toxic substances that can't. be seen:. <br />Previous to citizen involvement in the Portland cement dust issue, the regulatory agencies <br />were unaware of the dire conditions in the St. Vrain Valley because the agencies are <br />located in Boulder and Denver. Since the residents here have ban able to see these dust <br />clouds, we have ban able to report these incidents to the agencies. In a fire burning <br />situation; however, any malfunctions resulting in chemically unknown fugitive emissions <br />may presumably go unseen, and air pollution from these malfunctions could disperse for <br />many miles. <br />The potential health hazards of fire burning: <br />Tires are not benign substances to bum. We are researching what toxins could be <br />released into the atmosphere when there is an operating malfunction or even a worse case <br />scenario. Will the EPA and other agencies know if malfunctions in combustion occur? <br />Will Cemex-Lyons be able to consistently meet the stringent standards of performance <br />required by the EPA? <br />According to John Ray, President of the Montana Environmental Information Center, <br />"When tires are burned in a cement kiln new and deadly compounds are produced. The <br />most deadly are dioxins." The EPA says of dioxins: "Exposure to dioxins, even at <br />minute levels, poses cancer risks and health concerns including possible damage to the <br />immune and reproductive systems." Are the risky really worth it? Is it worth giving <br />this corporation carte blanche to launch burning tires strictly for its own personal <br />profit and risk endangering our communities and residents? <br />Economic and environmental concerns: <br />Residents have expressed apprehensions in regard to the economic and environmental <br />impact that fire burning could have. Depressed real estate values, increased truck traffic, <br />contaminated agricultural products, exposure to toxins through the food chain, the <br />contamination of the St. Vrain River, and the potential impact to fish, game, and bird <br />populations are issues of concern. <br />Bottom line <br />Mr. Oakley, editor of "The Old Lyons Recorder," aptty focused on the essence of this <br />controversy in his editorial opinion. <br />The idea that we should err on the side of caution where human health is <br />concerned... seems to be the best guiding principle at work in this <br />controversy. <br />