Go-ahead for waste dump

Go-ahead for waste dump
21 December 2004


Plans to dump hazardous waste close to people’s homes have been approved by County Hall bosses.   The application allows Clitheroe’s Castle Cement to tip cement kiln dust, which contains deadly heavy metals, in Lanehead Quarry, 160m away from homes in Chatburn, Ribble Valley.   County councillors brushed aside planning rules, which would normally mean the tip needed to be further away, and the fact Chatburn is downwind from the quarry.   They also passed the application although soil samples from the area showed Cadmium, a heavy metal that can kill in large quantities, is already in the soil right up to the maximum safe limit.   They said research done by the applicant and extra measures such as putting the dust in clay lined cells, mixing it with water and having trees between the quarry and Chatburn mean it would not produce unacceptable levels of dust for residents. 

Published under Cement News