What Can Be Done?

Organize

Countless organizations exist throughout the country with purposes ranging from tire-burning prevention to land-clearing prevention. South Carolina is particularly ripe for anti-tire burning efforts; according to the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control and scbiomass.org, over 45,000 tons of waste tires are burned annually in the state. Of this amount, the International Paper Company's (the same corporation protested in numerous states including Vermont and Montana) plant in Richland County burns over 20,000 tons annually; Harleyville's (just outside of Summerville, very close to Charleston) Blue Circle Cement Waste Tire Processing Facility is the state's second highest tire-burning culprit.

The Blue Circle Facility in Summerville is owned by French cement giant Lafarge. With branches and facilities throughout the world, the company has come under fire regularly from public-sector environmental groups, most of whom seek to curb emissions relating to cement production and waste removal. Though their website, lafargenorthamerica.com, claims that safe environmental practices are of grave concern to them, it is quite obvious that the opposite is true (as it is for nearly all corporations worldwide). The lack of federal legislation concerning tire-burning allows them to operate virtually unchecked. Without action, the Blue Circle plant in Summerville will continue to pump dioxins, creosotes, and other toxic chemicals into the Charleston atmosphere for years to come. In fact, the problem could become worse in the near future; in 1996, Lafarge launched "Project Harleyville 3000", which resulted in a $45 million expansion of the facility.

The Blue Circle plant's Harleyville address is not listed.

Alternatives to Rubber Consumption?

Because synthetic tires are popularly viewed as a reasonable environmental alternative to the extraction of natural rubber, it is difficult to find eco-friendly alternatives to using tires. The best possible, though, is surely to seek corporations who recycle tires; while the problem of emissions from melting and re-manufacturing is still a risk, it eliminates the higher-risk problem of burning tires in cement kilns. Also, it encourages a general decrease in the manufacturing of new synthetic or natural tires.

Otherwise, a Charleston consumer's best choice is to go on foot - something without rubber soles, of course!