EPA GOES TOO FAR

New regulations proposed for the burning of hazardous waste could have the effect of leaving a lot of contamination to be disposed of in other ways.

In keeping with its smokestack-seeker mentality, the Environmental Protection Agency has proposed new, stricter standards for controlling air pollutants generated by burning hazardous waste.

The tentative regulations would affect 162 commercial incinerators and 22 cement kiln operations nationwide, including Cape Girardeau's Lone Star Industries. The EPA estimates the new regulations would cost the waste disposal industry $136 million annually to comply. Industry officials say that estimate is too low. The cost might be two to three times more than the EPAs projection.

What that means is that fewer plants will dispose of hazardous waste, material the EPA has been slow to clean up across the country. But when the free market comes up with ways to dispose of the waste, the government regulates them out of business. No one wants polluted air and water, but it is important that the benefits of burdening hazardous-waste disposal operations are balanced against the increased costs. At Lone Star, burning waste reduces the amount of coal the plant has to burn. Not only does that save on fuel, it also reduces coal-burning pollutants.

The new regulations might make burning hazardous waste too expensive, forcing Lone Star -- and similar operations across the country -- to revert to burning coal exclusively. Incinerators and cement kilns account for 80 percent of the hazardous waste burned annually in the United States. Of course people living near the facilities should be protected, but what will happen to the waste if it isn't burned? The danger of unburned and undisposed hazardous waste must be weighed against the possible danger of emissions from incinerators and cement kilns. But the EPA seems to be bent on restricting hazardous waste disposers without regard to the alternatives.