When he was in opposition, Fisheries Minister Keith Colwell introduced a bill in 2007 to ban the burning of tires in Nova Scotia. It passed in 2008. But now his government has granted LaFarge Canada a permit to burn tires to produce power at its cement plant near Brookfield. Colwell says he hasn’t changed his mind that burning tires is a bad thing, but he can live with this decision if science backs up burning them for a particular use.
Citizens Against Burning of Tires is fighting the pilot project, calling it an environmental threat which could release dioxins into the air.