Nesquehoning Borough Council officials want to clarify that formal action was never taken in regards to test burning at the Panther Creek Power Operating cogeneration plant.

On Wednesday, Councilman Don DeMarco addressed the issue of a statement made by Panther Creek asset manager Matthew J. Cochran in the article "Panther Creek wants to burn shredded tires," which ran in the Times News on June 30.DeMarco disputed Cochran's statement, saying that "Nesquehoning council recently approved the plan.""We did not vote at all about the tire burning at the cogeneration plant," he said. "We got an informational letter saying they were going to burn, which they have the right to."No motion was ever made or seconded by any council member sitting here for tire burning," DeMarco said.Councilwoman Mary Fox agreed with DeMarco."It's not up to council," she said of the test burn.Borough solicitor Robert Yurchak said that council received a letter indicating that they had sought permission from the state Department of Environmental Protection.He also sent a letter back to DEP asking the agency to monitor the burn, but no response was ever received.Panther Creek's plan is to perform a four-month test burn of tire waste. The company now burns culm, or coal waste, that has been trucked in. It also has piles of lower-quality culm on the property.The point of the test is to see if burning the tire waste will generate enough heat to allow the company to burn the piles of low-quality culm, the Times News reported last month.If it works, Panther Creek said it will start chipping away at the piles and eventually reclaim the land.Also, burning the tire waste would cut down on truck traffic, because less culm would need to be brought in.DEP's air quality department met with company officials in April regarding the plans.Jeffrey Spaide, environmental engineer manager for DEP's waste management program, on May 22 replied to an April 24 letter from Cochran."The Waste Management program will not require Panther Creek Generating Facility to obtain a general permit to store the (tire derived fuel) used during the four-month test burn period. TDF storage is limited to the 9,000 tons of material that will be used for the test burn," Spaide wrote."A general permit must be obtained from the Waste Management program if Panther Creek Generating Facility intends to store or use TDF after the four-month test burn period. Please note that this letter does not approve the proposed TDF test burn, a separate approval must be obtained from the Air Quality Program prior to storing or burning any TDF."Panther Creek must submit the test burn results to the state Department of Environmental Protection, DEP spokeswoman Colleen Connolly said last month.