Youngstown Council has extended its moratorium on the SOBE pyrolysis project to allow further study into the impact of the process
Youngstown council voted to extend the pyrolysis moratorium first passed last year. The vote resulted in applause from audience members, as the city does what it can to stop the company’s plans.
In a stunning statement Youngstown Councilwoman Anita Davis stated; “There’s no other country that has a process like this. It’s so brand new. It’s experimental. I just don’t like Youngstown being used as the guinea pig.”
According to the Ohio EPA, SOBE wants to install a Thermolyzer (pyrolysis) unit to process tyre chips. The unit will produce a synthetic gas that would serve as a supplemental fuel in two existing natural gas-fired boilers that are already installed, operating, and permitted
“I would like to see a forum with SOBE where a panel of carefully vetted scientists and experts in the field could ask questions, clarifying this process and determining if hazardous air pollutants and hazardous waste are released,” explained Mary Krupa of Youngstown, “what the possibilities of fire and explosion are.”
“Our findings show the pyrolysis process is extremely dangerous and has very real potential to harm Youngstown’s residents and pollute this community,” explained Ellie Buerk, Certified Legal Intern with Kramer’s Environmental Law Clinic at Case Western Reserve University, representing SOBE Concerned Citizens.
Curiously, for a project that is not available in any other country according to Councilwoman Davis, the following is also being stated.
“Everytime you say, What is the process, it’s always hidden behind proprietary law,” explained Doug Fowler of McDonald. “And that’s true of a lot of these plants that they’ve tried. With 11 across the United States, there’s only nine now. None of them have been really shown to make a profit.”
SOBE was not represented at the meeting. Perhaps, for the pyrolysis sector, this should be a case study in why proper project stakeholder public relations need to be built into planning a project.
Source: 21-WFMJ?
