SEATTLE, WA — Environmental justice groups filed an appeal over the past weekend, challenging a regional air agency’s decision to allow the Ash Grove Cement Company to burn more tires for fuel at its Seattle plant, located in a community with the highest rate of childhood asthma hospitalizations in King County.
The Duwamish River Community Coalition, joined by Front and Centered, a statewide environmental justice organization, filed the appeal with Washington State’s Pollution Control Hearings Board seeking to overturn the permit modification approved by the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency in early December.
The permit modification removes a previous limit capping tires at 30 percent of the cement plant’s fuel mix, paving the way for increased tire burning in the Duwamish Valley. The area includes the Georgetown, South Park and Delridge neighborhoods, which already experience worse air quality and health outcomes compared to most Seattle and King County residents.
Tire burning releases particulate matter and hazardous air pollutants known to harm human health through respiratory diseases, cancer and other chronic health problems. While pollution control technology can reduce some emissions, the appeal argues that increased tire burning will release more toxic air pollution without adequate pollution controls and emission limits.
Mia Ayala-Marshall, Duwamish River Community Coalition Clean Air Program Manager, said Ash Grove is one of the largest polluters in the Seattle area and has been allowed for far too long to harm the health of Duwamish Valley residents. She said the permit modification puts family health at even greater risk and should not be allowed to stand.
The cement plant is located along the Duwamish River near businesses and neighborhoods, just south of the West Seattle Bridge.
Jaimini Parekh, Earthjustice senior attorney representing the groups, said the Duwamish Valley is already overburdened with air pollution and the air agency should have given close scrutiny to how increased tire burning could harm public health. Instead, she said, the agency’s decision is riddled with errors and questionable assumptions.
The appeal raises concerns that the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency failed to address environmental impacts under Washington State’s Environmental Policy Act by conducting the required environmental analysis. The agency said the modified permit had no impacts and relied on a 1995 analysis that fails to address pollution impacts from increased tire burning.
The Duwamish Valley has been designated by the state as overburdened by air pollution.
Jamie Hearn, Front and Centered Climate and Community Planning Policy Lead, said Ash Grove has a long history of violations and non-compliance. The organization joined with the Duwamish River Community Coalition to ensure communities near the cement plant no longer have to suffer from air pollution they should be protected from under federal and state laws.
The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency first issued a draft order of approval for the permit in December 2024 and gave final approval in December 2025. Over 500 community members and 30 organizations joined a local coalition led by the Duwamish River Community Coalition to oppose unlimited tire burning at Ash Grove.
The Duwamish River Community Coalition is a nonprofit organization seeking to elevate the voices of those impacted by Duwamish River pollution and other environmental injustices with the goal of a clean, healthy, equitable environment for people and wildlife.
Front and Centered is a statewide, community-driven coalition working to advance equity, climate justice and environmental justice throughout Washington state.
The appeal follows protests held outside the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency offices in November 2025, where community members demanded stronger pollution controls and protection for neighborhood health.
