Cement News tagged under: Environmental

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Cemex to appeal against dust fine

12 October 2006, Published under Cement News

Cemex UK is considering an appeal after it was hit with a massive fine after cement dust escaped from a silo at its Rugby production plant. Judges at Warwick Crown Court fined the company UK£400,000 after it admitted pollution charges following an incident in October 2005. The firm was also ordered to pay almost UK£12,500 in costs by the court. The Environment Agency welcomed the severity of the fine and claimed it would ensure Cemex would improve its maintenance regime. A Cemex spokeswoma...

Emissions to rise in short term

12 October 2006, Published under Cement News

Greenhouse gas emissions in Canada will be allowed to grow under the Conservative environmental plan, but at a slower pace, Environment Minister Rona Ambrose asserted yesterday. Canada’s position as a growing energy exporter means emissions will also be on the rise for the short term, she said, but the government’s long-term plan is to reduce them through new technology and the use of “intensity-based” targets. In effect, the government is betting that a combination of technological chang...

Asian climate plan

12 October 2006, Published under Cement News

Global cement industry leaders and officials involved in the US administration’s voluntary six-nation Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development & Climate have drafted an action plan that does not set greenhouse gas reduction targets for the sector but calls for assessing emission levels in China and other data-poor countries and setting up programs to spread "best operating practices" worldwide. The task force plan is expected to be approved by a higher-level Asia-Pacific Partnership p...

Cutting emissions a big task

11 October 2006, Published under Cement News

The legislation California enacted last month to seize for itself a leading role in the fight against global warming is only the beginning of what will likely be five years of intense, behind-the-scenes battles over just how to reduce greenhouse gases to the level emitted in 1990, when California’s population and its economy were much smaller than they are today. AB 32 was titled the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. But the bill does little more than establish the goal of reducing t...

Melón submits US$30mn project to Conama

11 October 2006, Published under Cement News

Chile’s Cemento Melón, controlled by French company Lafarge, has submitted for national environment commission (Conama) consideration a project to build a new US$30mn cement mill in Region V, Conama reported on its website. The 600,000t/pa capacity plant is to be built in Ventanas, in the Puchuncaví district of central Chile. The firm submitted an environmental impact declaration for the project, certifying it meets with all environmental regulations. Cemento Melón will also treat in...

Castle Cement improves production and reduces emissions with new £64m kiln at Padeswood

10 October 2006, Published under Cement News

Castle Cement,  which produces around 25 per cent of the UK’s cement, has opened a new £64m kiln at its Padeswood works Flintshire, Wales.  Kiln 4 replaces old plant, some of which was over 50 years old. It should bring about a reduction of up to 90 per cent in emissions, while also increasing production by around an additional 300,000tpa of cement. The new kiln uses alternative fuels, recycling waste products and reducing energy consumption. Peter Weller, managing director of Cast...

Cement company eyes protected area

09 October 2006, Published under Cement News

Cement producer PT Semen Padang is proposing the conversion of a forest reserve spanning 249ha near its plant in Indarung, Padang city, West Sumatra to obtain raw materials for cement production. The company has the backing of the West Sumatra governor and is seeking a permit from the Forestry Ministry for a change in land use. The company’s managing director, Endang Irsal, said the 249ha area, which is situated in a conservation forest rich in limestone, was of great significance fo...

Switzerland helps Cambodia preserve old temples

09 October 2006, Published under Cement News

Switzerland’s Holcim Group of Company has pledged to provide Cambodia with US$90,000 to preserve ancient temples in the country, local sources reported. Under a Memorandum of Understanding, signed in Phnom Penh on Oct. 3, Wat Prasat Bakong and other old Buddhist monasteries will be given fund for their repairation, Cambodia’s AKP news agency said. The financial assistance will especially be used for funding a project to transform Wat Prasat Bakong to the first Buddhist museum in Sout...

Rugby Cement hit by £400,000 pollution fine, UK

04 October 2006, Published under Cement News

Rugby Cement has been hit by a UK£400,000 fine after polluting homes in the town.    Cemex, who own the plant in Lawford Road, pleaded guilty at Warwick Crown Court today (Tuesday) to ’poor maintenance’, which led to dust clouds pumping out of the site and covering homes near the town centre.    The dust emissions from the controversial plant, which has long been the target of anti-pollution protesters, also covered cars as far as three miles away.    The court heard that a witness saw a ...

EPA reaches agreement with Lehigh Cement

28 September 2006, Published under Cement News

US Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 has reached an agreement with Lehigh Cement Co on alleged clean-air violations at the company’s Portland cement plant at 121 N. First St., Mitchell, Ind.    The agreement, which includes an $84,378 penalty, resolves EPA allegations that Lehigh failed to maintain cement kiln exhaust gas temperatures at levels that ensure compliance with dioxin and furan emissions limits. EPA also alleged that the company failed to comply with limits on opacity or t...