MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) – It will be at least May before the International Paper Co. conducts a test burn of tires at its Ticonderoga, N.Y., plant, company officials said.

The company is expected to file an application for a permit for the tire burn with the New York Department of Environmental Conservation.

That will be the first formal step it must take to obtain approval for the test. It comes more than a year after International Paper’s plans to use tires as fuel were first disclosed.

Since then, those plans have come under strong opposition by Vermont environmentalists, Addison County residents and politicians.

The plant is across a narrow stretch of Lake Champlain from Addison County.

International Paper hopes to use tires to replace a small portion of the millions of gallons of fuel oil needed to run the plant’s giant power boilers.

“We fully expect to see that, after all of the testing, the modeling and fuel analysis, a validation of our position that this will, in the end, be good for the environment,” said Donna Wadsworth, the plant’s spokeswoman.

“I think, when people start talking about the science and merits of this project, they will come to see that this makes sense.”

Vermont officials want to be sure the test is safe.

“The governor’s position on this is rock-solid,” said Jason Gibbs, Douglas’ chief spokesman. “He is only willing to support the test if the New York Department of Environmental Conservation, the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation and the Environmental Protection Agency agree that the test can be done with no risk of adverse side-effects to the people of Vermont.”

Next week’s filing will trigger a monthlong review of the mill’s proposal to measure the additional pollutants the burning of tires might produce. Vermont environmental officials also will review the information.

Then two regional offices of the federal Environmental Protection Agency will take 45 days to collect public input and comment. The final step will be a 45-day review by the EPA’s national staff in Washington.

If approved, the test would be monitored by officials from Vermont, New York, the federal government, the company and a third-party evaluator, Wadsworth said.

If those results are favorable to environmental regulators, the company would then seek a permit to burn the tires permanently.

AP-ES-12-10-04 1533EST