Ecocem may get planning approval for grinding mill

Ecocem may be allowed go ahead with a proposed €45m grinding mill in the US after a local council voted to stall a final decision on its planning application pending the outcome of a report.

Ecocem’s US subsidiary, Orcem Americas, is appealing a decision by planning commissioners in Vallejo, California, to refuse it permission to build a grinding mill on the city’s waterfront on environmental grounds.

The Irish Times reports that Vallejo city council, which heard the appeal, voted to direct its staff to produce a final environmental impact report on Orcem’s plan. The move allows the council up to January next year to consider the issue and decide on the appeal. Stephen Bryant, president of Orcem Americas, told local media that the ruling would allow all the facts on the benefits of the company’s plans for the area to come out.

Orcem and Vallejo Marine Terminal, whose application for a deepwater berth to serve the mill was also refused, are appealing the original ruling against the proposals on the grounds that they are subjective and arbitrary.