Kanawha County, WV-Residents of Belle, West Virginia, said they want more public hearings and transparency on the proposed construction of a new plastic pyrolysis facility in the region by the company Clean Seas West Virginia.
Pyrolysis relies on heat to convert plastics into other materials and some groups argue the process produces toxic chemicals and should not be labeled as recycling.
Lani Wean, West Virginia field organizer for the environmental group Mom’s Clean Air Force, called the facilities a quote “big incinerator,” which burns plastic down and produces high levels of carbon dioxide.
“It also creates some pretty toxic pollution,” Wean pointed out. “It can release heavy metals, benzene, mercury, dioxins, formaldehyde, all kinds of hazardous air pollutants into the air in communities.”
According to the website Oil and Gas Watch, the proposed facility has already received a $15 million loan guarantee and the facility is projected to put 12,000 pounds of toxic chemical emissions into the air annually.
Supporters of pyrolysis said it is a viable way to recycle plastics, which reduces the amount of waste in landfills.
Wean countered residents of Belle have a history of chemical disasters and public health risks from legacy pollution from a Chemors facility. She’s worried much like data centers, drawn to the state for loose regulations and land, more pyrolysis corporations will begin to crop up.
“Folks in this area already have that, they’re already at a pretty major risk for facing some of those, health consequences from air pollution,” Wean stressed. “This is only going to be compounded if this facility ends up opening.”
The economic benefits of such facilities remain up in the air. One report from the Ohio Valley River Institute found similar pyrolysis facilities in neighboring states have struggled to become financially viable or have filed for bankruptcy.
