The Cupertino Courier

Group's demise is public's loss

By Betty Mann

I believe that the Kaiser Cement Tire Burning Communication Group's technical subcommittee's recommendation that the group as a whole conclude its efforts was premature. We had a duty to provide the public with information that would allow it to evaluate the data in clear language and determine whether the risks of tire-chip burning were acceptable.

I believed that we could present in a report some of the data that would clarify misconceptions about what tire burning entailed. With our dissolution, the same half-truths and myths will continue to be disseminated without means of clarification or rebuttal.

It is true that it is virtually impossible to determine the overall assessment of risk from the data. This stems from the fact that the data can be interpreted and analyzed in so many ways that even the technical experts could not state with confidence that a risk to the health of the public was either present or absent. The problem cannot be defined in terms of black and white. It is an individual choice of what one considers risk. For some, risk is zero tolerance. For others, risk is part of everyday life. Perhaps the problem with our deliberations was contained within our individual commitment to our mission.

From the outset, some members were adamantly opposed to the Kaiser Cement project. It was obvious that any positive results that may have occurred would have been unacceptable to them. Others were skeptical, but most retained a "wait and see" attitude. Although the West Valley Citizens' Air Watch members walked out at the third meeting, a few of their supporters and members stayed and, in all fairness, worked with the remainder of the group to sift through the presentations to find a way to evaluate the data. The technical subcommittee of three members determined that our goal was not attainable, thereby leaving the problem still up in the air.

One of the largest problems that faced the group was that of evaluating the results. The acceptable limits of emissions were established by our federal and state governments. The limits were established below known tolerances to provide leeway for errors in estimating results. In order to agree that the tire-derived fuel pilot project results pose no additional risk, it is necessary to accept those limits as accurate since the test results did not exceed them. There is no way of knowing absolutely the reliability of the limits. Every day brings new knowledge about pollution tolerances in terms of the public's health.

In evaluating the information gained from our aborted efforts, the public should consider the following items:

Many of the numerical findings cited in various reports are taken out of context. This is not only misleading but attempts to simplify the total data into two or three pieces that will catch the public's attention. Information should be evaluated only as a part of the whole.

The term "tire burning" elicits a picture of round tires fed into a furnace. In fact, the tires are rendered into chips which are burned in a kiln at a temperature of 2,600 degrees. The chips are completely consumed. Further, the mixture of fuel is 90 percent coal and 10 percent tire-derived fuel.

The public has a right to know whether there is a health risk from tire-derived fuel usage by Kaiser Cement. I wish there was an easy answer but there isn't. Hopefully, information will be presented at a later time that will lay out the risks involved. At that time, we will have to decide for ourselves whether to accept the risks or decide there are still too many unknowns.

Betty Mann was a member of the Kaiser Cement Tire Burning Communication Group.

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