In January of 2002, Optimised Operations was commissioned by the Montana Environmental Information Centre (MEIC) and Montanans Against Toxic Burning (MATB) to review technical aspects of an application by the Holcim US, Inc., cement plant at Trident, Montana, submitted to the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ).

The application, originally submitted on October 3, 2001, requested that Holcim be allowed to add a waste material (whole scrap tires) to the mid-kiln of its cement-making operations to offset its current fuel use. Optimised Operations also previously reviewed this Holcim permit application on two previous occasions in April 2002 and May 2003. In addition to our review of Holcim’s tire-burning permit application in April 2002 and May 2003. An Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) was produced by Holcim in July 2006, Optimised completed the review of the EIS in September 2006.