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Original Press Release

On March 22nd 2001 at the High Court in London, Castle Cement were told by Mr Justice Burnton that the cocktail of toxic wastes, known as Cemfuel, that they wish to burn at Padeswood is to be treated as ‘hazardous’.  Castle Cement contended at the recent Public Inquiry that Cemfuel will not pose a risk to the health of local residents and tried to persuade Mr Justice Burnton that it is merely a ‘fuel’.  This is a major setback for Castle Cement, who now face crushing costs of complying with monitoring demands at their other plants.  To add to their woes Castle Cement was ordered to pay the substantial legal costs of the High Court Case.

The burning of Cemfuel will now be subject to the more rigorous limits and monitoring imposed by the EU.  This of course will greatly increase Castle Cement’s costs.

The Campaign Against the New Kiln congratulates the Environment Agency on their success in this case.  They were ably assisted by campaigners in the North of England.  Obviously Castle Cement brought the action for purely profit based motives, and this result only underlines how empty the recent propaganda put out by Castle Cement really is.  CANK hope that the local Health Authority will also take notice of Justice Burnton’s view.

To quote from the judgement papers ‘ The Judge’s conclusion was that Cemfuel is a hazardous waste and has rightly been treated as such by the Environment Agency’.