
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, March 17, 1992                   TAG: 9203170328
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MARK MORRISON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

BOTETOURT BOARD TO VISIT S.C. PLANT

Botetourt County supervisors said Monday they will visit a rural section of South Carolina where two cement plants are burning hazardous waste. The supervisors want to see how the operation is affecting the community.

The supervisors want to take the trip before making a decision on whether they should try to block a controversial proposal by Tarmac's Roanoke Cement Co. to burn hazardous waste at its plant in Botetourt.

They plan to visit Holly Hill and surrounding communities March 30-31. Just outside Holly Hill, about 50 miles northwest of Charleston, two cement plants have been burning hazardous waste for several years.

The supervisors said they particularly want to talk to people living in the community and to local elected officials, as well as take a tour of one or both of the plants.

It was not clear Monday if all five board members would go on the trip. Two, Robert Layman and G.C. Thompson, have previously visited a cement plant in Missouri that burns hazardous waste.

Both Layman and Thompson said Monday they were not sure another inspection elsewhere would be necessary. The board is considering an amendment to Botetourt's zoning ordinance that would require a special exceptions permit for burning hazardous waste as a substitute fuel at cement kilns, industrial furnaces or boilers.

A public hearing on the change is scheduled for April 20.

As a cost-cutting measure, Tarmac wants to supplement coal with flammable hazardous waste as fuel for making cement. The company would be paid to accept the waste.

If the zoning amendment is adopted, Tarmac would have to go through a lengthy public-hearing process to persuade the board to grant the permit.

Some board members have said the county needs to have some say in controlling hazardous-waste burning, which previously has been left to state and federal authorities.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency refused to grant Tarmac "interim status" for waste burning at its Botetourt plant, which means the company now has to file a more complicated application with the federal agency that could take years before it is processed.

Also at Monday's meeting, the supervisors, despite strong citizen opposition, approved a request to build a Food Lion grocery story at Laymantown Road and U.S. 460 in Blue Ridge.

by CNB