By Dave Lucas
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wamc/local-wamc-903778.mp3
Albany, NY – The LaFarge Cement Plant in Ravena under fire once again by environmentalists. Capital District Bureau Chief Dave Lucas reports.
The latest LaFarge headline came as a result of a Freedom of Information Request filed by the Albany Times Union. According to the newspaper, a "special regulations review office" of Governor David Paterson has effectively frozen efforts by the state Department of Environmental Conservation to ban "coal fly ash" as an ingredient in the cement manufacturing process at the Route 9w facility: A formal DEC request has been in limbo at the Governor's Office of Regulatory Reform for 18 months.
Elyse Kunz is a co-founder of "CASE" - Community advocates for Safe Emissions - she says the advicates were not even aware that paperwork had been submitted to the Governor, and that they now hope Paterson's office will be forced take action on the request.
LaFarge is New York State's second largest polluter of airborne mercury, and uses between 30 and 60 thousand tons of fly ash a year. DEC Spokesman Yancey Roy would not comment. Calls to the Governor's Office were not returned.