Vermont Senator Jim Jeffords is asking New York Governor George Pataki to prevent the International Paper Company from burning tire chips. In a letter to Pataki on Monday, Jeffords said he didn’t want Vermont, which is down wind of the Ticonderoga plant, to be used as a guinea pig for the tire chip test burn. Jeffords sent a similar letter to the head of the Environmental Protection Agency.
Earlier this month International Paper filed an application with the state of New York for a two-week test burn. International Paper hopes to burn tires as a way to save money on fuel oil. Jeffords has said that emissions from poorly controlled facilities that burn tire fuel can be hazardous to human health.