Toxics-Burning NY Cement Kilns Exceed Federal Emissions Limits

"COHOES, N.Y. -- Fueled white-hot by an ever-changing mix of industrial waste, two massive kilns at Norlite Corp. spin slowly as they turn rock into construction material.
     
For 47 years, Sylvia Sokol has lived on Edsel Place across from the Route 32 plant and its twin smokestacks. 'In the winter, the snow will sometimes turn black,' she said. 'It's usually at night that they burn the worst stuff.'

Many people in the blue-collar neighborhood have been worried ever since hazardous waste-burning started at the kilns in 1977. Residents of a Cohoes public housing project next to the plant said strange odors and plumes are routine.

'The smells are like chlorine, or like sulfur,' said Saratoga Sites resident Anthony Smith. 'It's usually worse at night, and when I first wake up in the morning.'"

Brian Nearing reports for the Albany Times-Union August 23, 2009.