Posted on 07/12/2009 9:19:35 PM PDT by Libloather
Cement plants being asked to sacrifice for clean air
Web Posted: 07/12/2009 12:00 CDT
By Colin McDonald - Express-News
Burning at a minimum of 2,400 degrees Fahrenheit, the fire inside the kiln at Capitol Cement is hot enough to melt steel.
Flashing orange and white as they soar through a rotating tunnel the size of two semi-trucks, the flames change the chemical structure of the crushed limestone inside and vaporize almost everything else.
Fueled by a mix of coal, petroleum coke and sometimes tires, the operation never stops unless something goes wrong.
“If that’s running, then we have a chance at making money,” plant manager Gerry McKervey said as he looked out at the roaring machinery amid a 600-acre quarry east of San Antonio International Airport.
But on Monday, Peter Bella, director of natural resources for the Alamo Area Council of Governments, is going to ask Capitol and five other area cement plants to consider temporarily shutting down or at least slowing operations this summer to reduce their emissions of nitrogen oxides — and possibly keep the federal government from designating San Antonio as a dirty-air city.
**SNIP**
The EPA counts the fourth-highest ozone concentration in an eight-hour period each year, then averages it with the previous two years. If that average is above 75 ppb, it will declare the area to be in nonattainment of federal clean air standards.
Then the feds bring in more regulation, which won’t go away until air quality improves. Industries that want to expand or move to the area will have to deal with additional rules; highway dollars will come with more requirements.
“If that happens, our goose is cooked,” Bella said. “Nobody wants to see nonattainment.”
(Excerpt) Read more at mysanantonio.com ...
Yep , no longer paving paradise, and there will be no need for parking lots, well, except for the elite.
Kind of senseless to shut down all them contractors after just getting them out of their winter hibernation
We are living chapter 12 of Atlas Shrugged.
“Building America - with less cement. Kinda makes sense...”
Cutting down on cement and Cap and Trade killing steel...and then...we ARE Kenya! Mud huts...just like the Obiteme ancestrial family home in a third world shithole...we won’t HELP them, we will BECOME them...
They are all watermelons!
I certainly wouldn’t want to live near one of those things, but local air quality is none of Washington’s damn business.
Sure.
I think they call that “sandcastles”! Hope there’s no waves.
there goes asphalt..............
“Simple Obamacrete twice the sand and just enough cement to give a Grey color.”
LOOKS SOLID BUT WILL CRUMBLE UNDER A LOAD.
“Sure.
I think they call that “sandcastles”! Hope there’s no waves.”
Yes Children playing much like our Government.
“there goes asphalt..............”
No problem we can use stacks of hundred Dollar bills for paving.
Just like our Pretend President BTW the Turks tried that trick worked OK until the earthquake hit.
This is no big deal. We can just import cement from Mexico. They have the biggest cement company in the world and we don’t need these dirty industries in the US.
Either in Michigan or Minnesota gravel is being used.
obum forgot to subsidize the national highways did he not?
Yes someone was talking about Gravel roads replacing the Paved roads in one of the Blue States
But the fact is, we don't necessarily need to use "portland" cement for every single construction project in america.
In many instances, mortar is better for foundation work, and concrete using the proper aggregates will work just fine for most structural applications.
After all, the Roman Pantheon is 2000 years old and still standing.
That structure is NOT "reinforced" concrete, nor does it contain any portland cement, as that had not been invented yet.
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