It’s Getting Hot In Here

After three years of public opposition, International Paper decided to abandon its efforts to burn tire derived fuel at its plant in Ticonderoga, New York. Huzzah! For the past two weeks, IP had been botching a test burn of the tires, hitting their maximum pollution levels burning only a fraction of the total amount of tires they wanted to. “I think that clearly the results demonstrated that there was a lot more pollution coming from the burning of tires than IP anticipated,” said Paul Burns, executive director of Vermont Public Interest Research Group. “That reality, combined with the growing public pressure, convinced company officials that they could not move forward. And that’s good news for everybody downwind.”  Here at Middlebury College, we called off a demonstration planned for today and celebrated instead. Still, as we put away the champagne bottles, lingering questions remain: How did IP get away with conducting a test burn of tires in the first place? What are the longterm effects of the pollutants they already released into the air? and, How can we begin to reclaim control of our communities from multi-billion dollar corporations who threaten our health and environment?

The Vermont Congressional delegation published this statement when the test burn was called off, “IP’s decision to abandon its test burn of tires is positive news, but we believe Vermonters should not have been subjected to these emissions in the first place,” the statement said. “We remain extremely concerned that the available data suggest that pollution levels from the weeklong burn approached the permitted limit and exceeded IP’s expected levels.” That’s politico speak for, “Wow. That was a sh*! load of pollution!” One of the reasons IP was able to get away with this is because of the complicated, inefficient, and antiquated “clean air” regulations of the EPA. As climate activists continue to push for carbon dioxide to be regulated as a pollutant, we should also focus on the regulation of toxics and other pollutants. Right now, as the law stands, its pollute first, ask questions later. The burden of proving a pollutant safe should be on multi-billion dollar companies like IP, not on citizens and students.

It is unlikely that we will ever know all of the longterm effects of the IP test burn on our land and health. I am no expert on environmental pollutants and will leave the science up to the experts here at Middlebury College and throughout Vermont. Either way, the tire burn had a destabilizing effect on my sense of place. Last night, the incredible activist Winona LaDuke spoke at Middlebury. One of the topics she addressed was the importance of recognizing sacred places. As an Ojibwe, Winona has many sacred places throughout North America, from the “Place Where Life Begins” in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, to the “Place Where Thunder Rests,” in an area north of the Great Lakes. I have only been on this land for a few years, but I have spent my entire life in New England. The rolling hills, maple trees, dairy farms, and white church steeples are all parts of my vocabulary of home. After Winona’s talk, I spoke with a woman who was worried about the effect IP’s tire burn may have had on her vegetable garden. She believed that some of the pollutants, such as the dioxins, may be able to penetrate all the way down to her vegetables’ roots. We are very lucky in Vermont to have a relatively pristine environment to live in, but people here are beginning to question that stability. We loose something important when we are forced to doubt the quality of our soil, our air, and our own ability to live out our life in a place.

On their editorial page, the Burlington Free Press wrote today, “The experiment failed. International Paper was wise to stop the burn immediately and now needs to focus on repairing damaged relations with its neighbors across the lake.” That is for sure, but we students and Vermonters need to reach across the lake as well. In many ways, we are in a similar position to the people in Ticonderoga, New York, many of whom work at the IP mill. They also breathe polluted air when the wind shifts their way, they to have lost control of their community to IP.

This past weekend, May Boeve and I stopped at the Crown Point Bakery a few miles outside of Ticonderoga. Over cookies made with organic flour and raw sugar, we spoke with Yonig (sorry if I mispelled your name!), the young owner of the bakery. He grew up on a farm just up the way and opened the bakery a few years ago with a commitment to supporting local producers and baking with healthy ingredients. The bakery has became an area favorite and attracts a wide variety of customers. While May and I were sitting there, a cooky woman from a farm up the way stopped in to try a cookie and a few minutes later, an employee of International Paper walked in to pick up two loaves of bread for his family. Yonig advised us to take the long view when it came to the tire burn and IP. The influence of a factory over a town, the pollution of our environment, the dehumanization of a purely industrial economy, these are themes that have been around for a while. 

I agree with Yonig in many ways, but at the same time, I think these “givens” may be on the way out. Hundreds of Vermonters came together in an incredible way to oppose this plant (thank you so much Joanna, Barbara, and everyone who worked so hard for all of us!). Students here at Middlebury rallied behind the cause and were in the midst of planning an innovative and ambitious action when IP called off the burn. Through this blog and the connections within the youth climate movement, we were able to reach out to activists around the country for help on this issue.

In conclusion, next time anyone tries to burn tires in this town, we’ll be ready for them. Same for other corporations pumping pollution and driving environmental destruction. Because, in the end everyone is downwind when it comes to greenhouse gases. And everyone deserves a healthy environment to call home.