Now that the Lafarge Cement Works is officially mothballed maybe it is time to review what positive and negative benefits have accrued over the four plus decades since the plant first opened in Westbury in 1963

For those people who were around in 1963 the economic picture looked a little like today, gloomy with the laying off of a thousand plus rail workers in the Westbury region. Blue Circle employing nearly a thousand workers was seen as the industrial saviour for this region. Since that time Blue Circle and Lafarge have been a major contributor to the economic stability of this town even though the workforce has shrunk over the years. Pensions and pay have created a loyal workforce over the years and both companies have a reputation well deserved for looking after their workers.

This economic angle to this industry has been one of the major obstacles to progress being made on pollution abatement at this plant and others like it. Local politicians have been reluctant to push too hard as they fear the old chestnut that the company would be made too uneconomic and might close down.

With the passing decades came more awareness about the dangers of the poisons coming out of incineration processes and in particular the chemical signature of the dust particles. Thousands of studies have linked these poisons to heart and lung dysfunction, incidents of cancer and other illnesses but the official line is not to rock the boat too far. This was always the reason I became involved in this issue. Health and health protection. The Government has always sponsored those scientists and those universities that looked for other reasons for poor health quality around incineration processes and they too have been part of the problem.

You do not have to look too far to see this same ostrich like behaviour with the growth of incinerators all over the country under Private Finance Initiatives ( PFI). That is why The Air That We Breathe Network was a founder member and executive operative in the United Kingdom Without Incineration Network (UKWIN)

The strength of public feeling on this issue of health has been always focused on the cement plant and for years white dust was constantly covering cars, before the installation of the electrostatic precipitators at a cost of £9,000,000 in the 1990s. Unfortunately although the visual dust problem had been dealt with the very fine dust particles could not be trapped by this process and they are in health terms the most chemically active and therefore the most harmful potentially to health. Every meeting organised by TATWBN has been well attended with hundreds of people actively engaged and members of our group.

Now when I look at the cement industry I see an industry that will have to change radically due to its unsustainable carbon footprint otherwise it will not assist in the carbon reductions needed to deliver the national 80% carbon reduction figure by 2050. It is not impossible as magnesium silicate cements can replace existing commitments to chalk and limestone carbon based cements and also have the added bonus of absorbing carbon into the product.

Finally as an NGO of some 15 years experience with both Government (local and national) industry (local and national) and the Regulator (Env Agency) it is this groups experience which has been echoed through our network that the Regulator has been the worst culprit in the scenerio. To explain. The Agency has rules and regulations that get updated through the years and they should be independently doing their job. Unfortunately they too get pressured by National government to be lenient and let the industry be self regulating ( sound familiar to the banking theme ?). The result has been that communities around the country have been let down and consequently this industry has been the most confronted by people over the past two decades, involving legal cases that almost always side with the industry and Government.

I have fought for a different way forward but the suspicions run deep and public consultation is still a lip service affair rather than a learning curve. I would remind industry and Government that you cannot proceed without the support of the community within which you reside. A lesson that has not been learnt yet

David Levy
Chair TATWBN
April 2009

The meeting was called to help explain the rogue dioxin emission recorded in February 2008 to the town council. The following notes arise from attending the meeting:

Lafarge – Have confidence in our monitoring agencies’ competence and have to go through rigorous testing procedures to be accredited.

Lafarge – We have looked at this result and although the production process was running normally we have no explanation for why this high result happened therefore we ask you to believe us that this result must be a false reading.

Could it be that the company are unaware of the contradiction in their evidence?

TATWBG have asked the Environment Agency (EA) about the dioxin testing done by AMESA both in this country and also around Europe and so far it has been un-forthcoming…

…YET, Dawn Moore of Lafarge had that information tonight and more she had a Mr Tipping from the EA saying that the results prove that this system is not necessary for the cement industry.

Dawn failed to mention the system is used in cement companies across Europe. and that Tim Loveday site inspector for the Agency said in a liaison meeting with TATWBG that these rogue results are happening throughout the industry [as if that was a reassurance!]. This had an opposite effect on me and made me wonder how frequently these results occur, especially as there has been only 33 extractive tests done in 7 years. Hardly reassuring to the public when measuring such nasty chemicals.
In our view this is because those at senior Agency level are doing all in their power to have business as usual without precautionary principles applying.

Public involvement was limited but the issue of plume grounding was a real hot topic. There were those in the audience who have written and complained about odour and being overwhelmed by emissions. This represented a cross-section of those who attended.

I have asked those people to send samples to the Agency for chemical analysis and I will ask the University of The West of England to verify by analysing duplicates put into sterile containers.

It is about time two things happened:

1. Firstly the Agency sponsored by the HPA should insist on AMESA being fitted to Westbury as standard so we can have more data about dioxins and shed some light on the inadequate dioxin data.
2. Secondly the issue of plume grounding can be settled by the Agency reasonably easily. By using LIDAR on the emissions they can establish the chemical composition of what is coming out of the stack and where it comes down. That is known by the Agency, so why have they not delivered this for the public they should be there to serve.

Unfortunately the answer lies in the regime of Government appeasement of industry. The Environment Agency have the power to insist on Lidar and AMESA – these means are inexpensive ways to reassure the public about their concerns and it exposes the unknown.

One resident asked me how long he had to be in plume grounding to be poisoned. Good question! I don’t know the Answer and I am sure the Agency and Company don’t either.

The town council failed to suspend proceedures for half an hour to let the public question Lafarge and deferred to another to be arranged meeting in August. Disappointing.

Lastly chlorine and chlorides in the cement kiln dust have been causing a problem about the levels the company can reinstate into the production process. IF SRF from the MBT technologies are used as a fuel the plastics in the fuel mix will affect the levels of that chlorine to higher levels therefore the chemical analysis of the CKD is essential and the issue of CKD disposal is important.

David Levy
Chair TATWBG
July 7th 2008 22.30

TATWBG formed because of the move by Blue Circle Industries to introduce burning tyres for the production of cement replacing some of the base line fuel of coal. Three trials later and it was only by manipulation of data and pressure by Government on the Environment Agency that 24% replacement by tyres for coal was permitted. This was despite scientific evidence that demonstrated that production stability had not been proven and a 16-week third trial taking 49 weeks. That is what you are up against once Government become involved – an unfair playing ground.

As a private individual I took the EA and the Interested Party Blue Circle Industries to the Royal Courts of Justice in the Strand on points of law based on the 1990 Environment Protection Act. If you consider doing a similar thing you MUST document and record all letters and responses and find the solicitor who holds the Legal Aid ticket. My observation on this is: Government have warned the Legal Aid Commission away from such cases and can do so because they control funding. It is also my observation that lawyers are money first second and third so don’t expect empathy.

Lastly the courts are loaded towards big business and Government so don’t expect an easy ride. My conclusions, which was with us achieving our goals without the Agency having had the final word against them, because they moved the goalposts before the verdict was in, so the judges revealed they would not waste more time when we got what we wanted; this was not worth the effort, especially as court costs can always be levied against the person on legal aid throughout his/her life.

It was also our experience that Dr Martin Bigg (Head of the Agency’s Industrial Regulation) misled the EA Board by telling them that industries have had to pay for alternative fuels. In all my experience that has never happened. This manipulation gives the EA Board an unreal understanding of the dynamics of the economics behind alternative fuels as sources of energy. If Dr Bigg has furthered this mistruth around the country, which is my understanding, then he has done great damage to the environmental lobby because as companies get paid to take the alternative fuels it provides the economics to improve abatement equipment.

This argument was never allowed airtime and was never fully explored by the scientists in COMEAP and not one extra filter has been delivered because of this income stream, which the companies would have made great play about.

Baroness Young also went into a Select Committee where the MPs were looking to understand where missing tonnages of waste had disappeared to. Barbara Young knew these tonnages had been reclassified under the Substitute Fuels Protocol into fuels. Hey presto magic but she did not tell the MPs this. Mistruth through omission.

Our group’s greatest asset is the relationship we have with our MP Dr Andrew Murrison, Shadow Defence Minister and the local press, who have been instrumental in making our residents well informed and aware of the issues.

This is your power base and the public must have respect for you, which means you must be precise with facts and don’t go too far in what you have to say. Cement Manufacture has an impact on health and it is a pity that the 1996 Environment Select Committees recommendation for health impact assessments before future trials of alternative fuels was never given consideration by Government.

Our Group has written reams of words in umpteen reports but unless you get into face to face meetings with the company you are up against, and have regular meetings with the Agency as well as sit on liaison groups with political parish and technical people, you will never hear what the issue is and how to tackle the issue by what these people disclose. Don’t be scared of them – listen and learn.

Consider your arguments and see if the regional television programmes would make a presentation on your case. It may be on health, or it may be on fraud, or on value for money. Make it interesting. Get the public motivated by exhibitions, meetings press articles. Go and meet the editors of your local rags, and don’t forget the free papers. Mine, the White Horse News, has single-handedly supported (published) nearly every letter I’ve written – which exceeds 500!

Support UKWIN with your efforts and be aware that we have depths of experience to help educate you, and learn together with you, as you engage with this war of attrition. Build your support structures around you and plan your strategy – for you can make a difference. Our cement plant, now owned by Lafarge, has a professional outfit who recognise we are not going away and that my group is not just one person whom they can isolate, but is linked to a network of over forty groups, is internationally linked and maybe better informed about the industry than they sometimes are.

Look out for incidents, report them to the Agency, seek their responses and don’t be fobbed off with anything that is not based on sound science. Hold them to account and if you are not satisfied insist on a liaison group. I go to all of mine with a representative of the MP and Friends of the Earth, three minds are better than one.

This is a very short synopsis of what has taken 13 years to develop. You will lose people and will need a mug like me to carry the banner; it is unrewarded and completely takes over your life, but that is what a true Brit is and if you understand the issues then you will now have a Band of Brothers and Sisters to call upon when Amy Winehouse sings in the UK WIN Halls.

Cordially
David Levy
Chair TATWBG
Executive UK WIN / TBG / Marinet