LOUISVILLE, Neb. (June 9)—Ash Grove Cement Co. will conduct a test burn of scrap tires as a supplemental fuel at its kiln in Louisville July 13-15, the company and a state agency said.
The Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality granted a variance of its air pollution rules to Ash Grove last July for the test burn. Two environmental groups tried but failed to have the variance overturned in a state district court.
The agency will monitor the emissions results from the Louisville kiln to determine if Ash Grove should receive a permanent permit to use scrap tires as fuel there. The company estimates if the permit is granted, it could use about 1 million tires in Louisville annually, or slightly more than half of the 1.8 million waste tires eastern Nebraska generates in a year.
Ash Grove also could reduce its coal use by 20 percent if it uses scrap tires as a supplemental fuel, the company said.