ENVIRONMENTALISTS: RULE HELPS CEMENT EMPLOYMENT.

Byline: CP STAFF

In a press release hailing the EPA final NESHAP [National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants] Portland Cement rule, environmental activist and "nonprofit law firm" Earthjustice observes, "Modernizing older cement kilns with technologies such as scrubbers and activated carbon injection will help to create more jobs for the cement industry and will help preserve jobs in existing communities."

Modernization candidates will not include kilns in the unemployment-plagued backyard of the Sierra Club-affiliated Earthjustice: Cemex USA announced in January permanent closure of its 104-year-old Davenport, Calif., cement plant, citing economic reasons but also characterizing the property as the least efficient of its 14 U.S. powder mills. Santa Cruz Sentinel and Santa Cruz Weekly reports indicated the plant closing would result in the loss of 125 jobs and utility rate spike underscored by Davenport residents' water and sewer fees climbing 10 and 74 percent, respectively.