August 9th

By Victoria Eglington
Telegraph Reporter

See Also Editorial Comment
        Controversial fuel must be proved safe

Cement firm bosses have applied for permission to re-start the burning of controversial Cemfuel at their Ribble Valley plant - claiming it will help secure local jobs.

And Castle Cement has also confirmed it is considering burning worn-out tyres at its Ribbledale works in a bid to improve its environmental performance.

The firm claims its own eight-month trials of Cemfuel, halted hours before new European anti-pollution rules came into force at the end of June, have shown that it is environmentally beneficial.

It said that the dry kiln, kiln 7, operated well within the Government limits when burning coal and when Cemfuel, made from recycled chemical waste, was introduced as a partial substitute for coal, environmental performance was improved.

Castle Cement has now applied to the Environment Agency for permission to use Cemfuel in kiln seven permanently as an up to 40% substitute for coal. The company withdrew Cemfuel from the kiln in 1994 while it addressed local concerns about dispersion of plume from the chimney. But a £5 million gas scrubber, installed in 1998, reduced emissions of sulphur dioxide and dust.

Cemfuel, a cheaper alternative to coal and other fuels, was also taken out of the firm's wet kilns, kilns five and six, at the end of June and the company said it would not be re-introduced until new monitoring equipment had been installed. Ribblesdale's general manager Ian Sutheran said: "We have always had confidence in Cemfuel's environmental benefits and these new trials once again confirm its advantages.

"With our other two kilns due to close in the next three to four years, the future of this works, the jobs it provides and the vital role it plays in the local economy rests on kiln seven. I hope that, given the excellent results from these tests, we can move forward very positively," he said.

The findings of the trials can be viewed by the public at Ribble Valley Borough Council  in Clitheroe and Castle Cement will display its application, along with the trial results, to the public at St Mary's Parish Church Hall on September 6.

A spokeman for the Environment Agency said that the application would take four months to consider because the agency needs to see evidence from the firm, which would have to be evaluated thoroughly by an independant assessor. A public consultation will make up part of that process.

"We cannot discuss the pros and cons of Cemfuel but if they are claiming it is environmentally beneficial, they need to provide evidence," he said.

Mr Sutheran also said the firm is considering burning worn-out tyres in kiln seven which, he says, will improve environmental performance.

"Tyres make an excellent fuel and, in the controlled conditions of a cement kiln, burn without any of the black smoke you expect to see when they are burned in the open air. Trials at our Ketton works have shown a 20% reduction in releases of oxides of nitrogen when burning tyres as a part substitute for coal." The agency spokesman added: "Tyres are a recognised substitute to coal, but at this present time we have not received such an application from Castle Cement."

David Mortimer, from Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley Friends of the Earth, said: "We haven't really had a chance to look at all of the information, but we will fight the application to burn Cemfuel permanently. Our major point is that clear health problems are developing in this area and no one is interested in carrying out health or environmental studies.

"I presume they will claim that their gas scrubber will make everything all right. But it doesn't take out the heavy metals and doesn't remove dioxins, which can cause cancer."

He added that the group's major fear was that levels of dioxin emissions from the kiln would be eight times higher than an incinerator which, he said, face tighter emission controls and get rid of more dioxins than kilns.

A planning chief has called for a probe into a controversial quarry scheme after a cement company shed 100 jobs.

Castle Cement in Clitheroe, which announced the redundancies this week, was last year given permission to extract 35 million tonnes of limestone from Bellman Quarry off the A59 near Worlston.

The firm claimed the controversial scheme would secure the future of the Ribbledale plant and safeguard jobs.

Now Coun Terry Byrne, chairman of Lancashire County Council's Development Control Sub-Committee, which gave the scheme the go-ahead, is to ask planning officers to investigate whether Castle Cement had "welched on any promises."

"The news of these redundancies must be a big shock to the community. There is a good dedicated workforce at Castle Cement and this is not what we expected. Job security for workers was clearly stressed by the firm in support of the quarry plan and we will be checking to see what if any undertakings were given.

"If Castle Cement has welched on any promises it made to get the mineral extraction plan passed then it certainly won't go unchallenged. These redundancies are terrible." he said.

But a spokesman for the firm, which is also to spend £15 million on upgrading the Clitheroe plant, said the Bellman Quarry scheme was 'fundamental to the future of the works."

General Manager Ian Sutheran said: "Without a supply of high quality limestone from Bellman, cement manufacture in Clitheroe would have become unstable, inevitably leading to the complete closure of the works. The decision to invest £15 million would not have been taken unless permission for Bellman had been granted," he said.

"The quarry permission and the investment will help safeguard the long-term security of more than 300 people who will continue to be employed at the plant," he added.

The investment plan is aimed at improving efficiency and environmental performance at the plant.

Two kilns will be mothballed and 100 production posts phased out by the year 2001.

by Vicky Carlin

East Lancashire Health Authority has called for production at Castle Cement's two controversial wet kilns to cease sooner than the three-year benchmark set out by the company because of the poor emissions performance.

Castle announced plans to end work at two kilns at its Ribblesdale site in Clitheroe earlier this month following the announcement of plans for a new £48 million dry kiln at the company's Padeswood site in Wales.

The National Assembly for Wales gave the go-ahead for the scheme with work set to be completed within two years.

But in a report to the Environment Agency, Dr Stephen Morton, director of public health for the authority, said: "The Authority would request that further remedial action be proposed for the kilns or an earlier discontinuation of their use, irrespective of the planning decision at Padeswood.

"The decommissioning of these two wet kilns appears to be dependant on the installation of a further dry kiln at Padeswood.

"If this kiln was not built, it is not clear what the medium to long term plans for the two kilns are."

He added: "Given the relatively poor performance of these kilns for emissions of sulphur dioxide and particulate matter, in relation to industry benchmark standards, it would be difficult to support the continued use without further remedial measures."

The authority found during its investigations into Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control regulations at the Ribblesdale cement works that the overall results were "reassuring".

Dr Morton said there was most concern about sulphur dioxide which was well above the industry benchmark range.

For the dry kiln at the plant, Dr Morton said emissions were within the environmental quality standards but that carbon monoxide emissions were not within industry benchmark standards.

He added extensive remedial measures had been taken to try to reduce ground level haze and odour.

The research carried out by Dr Morton found no links between Castle Cement and ill health in the Clitheroe area.

He said there was no evidence of increased levels of respiratory disease, heart disease, or lung cancer.

"There are higher levels of prescribing for treatments used for asthma but lower levels of admission to hospital for asthma and other repiratory disease. The most likely explanation for this that there is more active management of asthma by local doctors and their primary care teams."

A spokesman for Castle Cement said: "this document has been prepared by the East Lancashire Health Authority for the Environment Agency from a report we prepared on Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control.

"The Authority has requested action to be taken but the report does not really specify what this may entail, so it is very difficult for us to comment at this stage."
 
CANK Comments
Interesting that now, with the Padeswood plan approved, we hear for the first time of East Lancashire Health Authority's concerns over pollution, when all the time,  they have been saying that there is no health risk. Coincidence or industry before people at the local area health authority?

Perhaps Dr Roberts, area health consultant for North Wales, Dr Morton's counterpart, and author of the controversial report giving the proposed kiln a clean bill of health, might like to look again at  the safety of the Padeswood plant, already recognised as far more polluting than Clitheroe, and take similar steps to protect the local population by insisting that immediate remedial measures be taken on the existing kilns as well.
He might also like to review his steadfast refusal to carry out a health impact assessment of the area.
Or perhaps he feels that it is acceptable that he allows the worst polluting cement plant in the UK to continue to run unchecked on his patch?

So there IS an increase in asthma in the area and yet, until now, the health authority has denied that there was any significant health impact.
A case of 'lies, damn lies, and statistics' perhaps?