USA: Essroc's Speed plant has AF setback

Essroc's Speed cement plant, in southern Indiana, USA, has been informed by Clark County officials have decided that it will have to apply for rezoning to obtain a permit for burning hazardous waste for fuel.

The Clark County Board of Zoning Appeals chose to uphold a letter that deemed an earlier decision to allow the Essroc to burn alternative fuel as void. County officials said the company has to seek a zoning change or a variance to be classified as a hazardous waste zone.

Jeremy Black, manager at the cement plant, argued in a filing with the Board that officials were wrong to revoke the decision that zoning changes weren’t needed for the plant to burn the chemical waste.
“I’m disappointed in the decision, but I’m confident that we’ve got other means to obtain the required authorisation to continue with the project,” Black said.

Essroc is hoping to feed its kiln with a new liquid fuel made from solvents, paints and other chemicals along with coal.

County officials have said the company misled them and that they later learned it applied for hazardous waste storage permits from Indiana regulators, reports The Jornal Gazette.