Lone Star Industries, which burns shredded rubber and toxic waste fuels in its cement kiln, doesn't burn many of the materials most people think of as hazardous wastes.

"We don't burn PCBs, dioxins, or banned pesticides or herbicides," said Norris Johnson, manager at the Cape Girardeau Lone Star plant.

"A lot of the things burned here can be found in many garages in this area," said Johnson.

Lone Star Industries Inc., one of the largest manufacturers of cement in North America, burns four areas of wastes.

About 30 percent of the waste fuel comes from waste oils like that used in automobile crankcases. Twenty percent is materials such as paint thinner, urethane wood finish and paints, and 10 to 20 percent are water wastes from industry.

"The balance of materials are alcohols," said Johnson. "This includes radiator solutions, methanol, resin substances like glue and auto-body filler and acrylic nail polishes."

Lone Star also burns shredded rubber tires.

The company is licensed to burn 2.4 tons of shredded rubber and more than 2,200 gallons of waste fuel each hour, said Johnson.

The burning of hazardous wastes was not "something we just jumped into," said Johnson. "We looked into burning supplemental fuel for a number of years."

During that time the company had to comply with numerous federal and state guidelines and still has to abide by kiln standards on waste burning and emissions.

Johnson and Lone Star director of operations John E. Burian discussed the company's hazardous-waste-burning program Tuesday as a result of a report issued this year by the American Lung Association of Eastern Missouri.

The 140-page "Report on Hazardous Waste Burning Cement Kiln Operations in Eastern Missouri" expresses health concerns of the association and urges the Environmental Protection Agency and Missouri Department of Natural Resources to continue their effort to ensure protection of human health and environment.

In the conclusions section of the report, it said, "The American Lung Association of Eastern Missouri recognizes the sustained efforts that EPA and MDRN have taken to provide adequate protection of public health and environment."

Marina Wildsmith of the association said cement kiln regulations were not as stringent as are those on incinerators that burn hazardous wastes.

"I think the kilns should be on an even playing field with the incinerators," she said.

Lone Star officials say kiln regulations are even more stringent than incinerators.

"We continually test our kiln, the emissions, and the fuel that comes into our kiln," said Johnson. "We average five to seven truckloads of liquid waste a day, and we test every load."

If PCBs or dioxins are detected, Lone Star refuses the load, said Johnson.

"Our emissions have been tested and are well within all regulations," said Johnson. Recently Lone Star kilns passed testing for a 10-year permit following a public comment period.

The EPA has introduced some new proposals for hazardous wastes. "The comment period for the new regulations was completed in late August," said Johnson. "

Cement kilns are ideal for burning hazardous wastes, said Johnson. Materials in the kiln burn at temperatures in excess of the 1,800 degrees required for waste incineration."The kilns at Lone Star reach from 2,000 to 3,000 degrees," he said.

Lone Star is one of four eastern Missouri cement plants that combined burn 1.1 millions tons of hazardous waste each year, making Missouri the No. 1 state in the burning of hazardous wastes. Second on the list is South Carolina, where cement kilns burn 588,000 tons a year.

The four plants in Missouri are Lone Star Industries, Continental Cement Co. in Hannibal, Holnam Inc. in Clarksville and River Cement Co. in Festus.

More than 5 million tons of hazardous waste are burned each year at 24 cement plants around the United States, according to the lung association's report.

Lone Star receives all of its waste shipments by truck.

"They don't travel through the city," said Burian. "They come in South Sprigg from the interstate."

Heated competition has developed for the 5 million tons of liquid hazardous wastes produced annually in the United States. On one side are operators of commercial hazardous-waste incinerators; on the other the cement plants. And the commercial incinerators complained that cement plants were given an unfair advantage, again citing the "unfair" playing field.

Cement kilns also charge less to dispose of hazardous wastes, forcing incinerators to reduce their prices to remain competitive.