EPA Rules Could Hurt Industry, Increase Emissions, Prices

New federal environmental regulations will cost the U.S. cement industry billions in plant upgrades, which could lead to job outsourcing, higher prices and ultimately plant closures, according to one industry group.

The Portland Cement Association fears U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards set to go into effect by 2013 could cripple the industry.

“It’s predicted 20 percent of the U.S. plants will go out of business and will not be able to meet the new standards,” said Keith E. Williams, who serves as a managing environmental process engineer for Buzzi Unicem USA in Stockertown, former chairman of the Lehigh Valley Berks Air Quality Partnership and a Hercules Cement employee.

Representatives at Hercules in Stockertown, Essroc Cement in Nazareth, and Keystone Cementin Allen Township all said they are equipped to meet the stricter standards.

The regulations, marking the first time the federal government has restricted emissions from existing cement kilns, target more than 100 cement companies nationwide.

The EPA says the regulations will benefit children, whose brains can be damaged by mercury when it makes its way through the air to the water, then to fish, which children and pregnant woman eat.

EPA representatives also say the rules will prevent thousands of serious health risks, including aggravated asthma, irregular heartbeat, heart attacks, and premature death in people with heart and lung disease, as well as thousands of premature heart and lung deaths each year attributed to particulate pollution.

Keystone Cement Plant Manager Stephen Hayden believes the regulations also could lead to the U.S. relying more heavily on Portland cement imported from developing nations. That in turn could lead to an increase in the amount of mercury pollution from other countries, he said.

“Globally, the rules could lead to increased emissions,” Hayden said. “It’s a possibility.”

Hayden said his plant doesn’t have a choice but to comply.

“Once the rules take effect, we must ensure we are in compliance and not take issue with EPA’s findings,” Hayden said.

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/northampton-county/index.ssf/2011/06/lehigh_valley_cement_makers_ep.html

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