By JOHN McFARLAND Associated Press Writer © 2009 The Associated Press

MIDLOTHIAN, Texas — To hear Sue Pope tell it, tons of toxic pollutants spewing from three nearby cement factories have ruined her immune system, stripped her lung capacity, and probably caused her husband’s cancer as well as numerous inexplicable illnesses around town.

Talk to state, local or industry officials here and they’ll tell you that decades of studies prove the air around the nation’s largest concentration of cement plants is just fine.

Both sides hope a sweeping new federal study will finally answer the question that environmentalists, industry leaders, politicians and scientists have argued about for at least 20 years: Just how toxic is this place?

Cement factory pollution has become an increasing concern around the country, with the Environmental Protection Agency in April proposing new rules to cut emissions at the nation’s 99 plants.

In Midlothian, the plants are tightly clustered a few miles apart in this town of about 16,000 just south of Dallas. The factories, with 10 massive kilns that bake limestone and other ingredients into cement at temperatures up to 2,800 degrees, can produce up to 6 million tons of cement a year. They do it in a pollution-producing process fueled mostly by coal but also by hazardous waste and old tires.

According to the most recent EPA statistics, the plants in 2007 emitted about 300 tons of sulfuric acid, nearly 20 tons of benzene, and smaller amounts of mercury, chromium, manganese and other chemicals. Those emissions were within the annual limits allowed on their state emissions permits, but that doesn’t comfort some folks in town.

“A lot of people have paid the price,” said Pope, a 69-year-old former horse breeder who lives near one plant and leads an environmental watchdog group. “They are responsible for a lot of the pollution and are causing the climate catastrophe.”

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