I live in the small town of Ada, Oklahoma. Many think the air is always cleaner in small rural towns but for many, like me, that’s not the case. My town is being polluted by a cement kiln. The kiln burns things like tires for fuel, which then gets into our air.
The kiln puts off things like dioxins, Ammonia, benzene, certain glycol ethers, chromium, diethanolamine, dioxin and dioxin-like compounds, ethylene glycol, lead, manganese, mercury, sulfuric acid, and zinc compounds. All of which are toxic and can cause major health issues.
The company that owns the kiln has even launched a green campaign to lead people to believe they are good for the environment. They claim the burning of the tires is recycling and have joined the local recycling coalition and are chairing a green committee! They even just sponsored a green expo.
Sadly many are falling for their tricks and have no idea what’s coming out of the stack. Many have no clue they are classified as a “high-priority violator” by the EPA. Or that they violated pollution limits more than 1,000 times in 2005.
The few that do know that they are polluting the town seem scared to stand up to them because it’s one of our top employers. But the point is being missed, they don’t need closed down, they need to clean up their act.
I’m trying to spread the word about cement kilns in my town and around the world. Cement is still called green by many and even fits into LEED Certification standards. Many kilns are in small towns like mine, with the people getting sick but with no way to stand up to the kilns.
I personally have been working in my own town to spread the word and I seem to have gotten it out there enough that my name is known by some of the employees. This is judging by how I have been treated by several and I hope this is a promising sign that my message is getting out there but I need help! I can’t fight this alone. We can’t keep letting big companies hide their dirty secrets in small towns like mine. I don’t want to hear that another one of my friends has cancer or that their child is in the hospital due to an asthma attack. I also would like to not have to take any more steroids for my asthma.
I ask that congress please better enforce the current laws and make new ones that protect us, not the companies!
Thank you,
Lisa Sharp
