Rugby Cement takeover fears

Local protesters are up in arms over news that a Mexican company which was fined more than a quarter of a million dollars for breaching air quality laws are to take over Rugby Cement. Bosses at RMC, which owns Rugby Cement, announced this week that they had accepted a takeover bid from Cemex.

But members of pollution protest group Rugby In Plume, which has campaigned for years about dangerous chemicals produced at the site, are furious after discovering the company was slapped with a hefty fine after inspectors found "clean-air violations" at its Colorado plant earlier this year. The firm agreed to pay the fine but denied any wrong-doing.

In a similar scenario to Rugby, residents living near the Cemex plant in Colorado launched a campaign against the company’s plans to burn tyres in its kiln. They argued that if the company violates air restrictions at present, they cannot be trusted to burn tyres safely. Lilian Pallikaropoulos, a member of Rugby In Plume, said: "If this goes ahead, everyone should leave town."