Cemex fined £20,000 for showering coal dust over Rugby

Cemex has been fined £20,000 and ordered to pay £13,469 in costs after causing coal dust to be showered over homes and cars in Rugby, Warwickshire.

The cement manufacturer pleaded guilty to one charge of breaking its operating permit conditions at Stratford-upon-Avon Magistrates’ Court yesterday (Tuesday). The charge was brought by the Environment Agency under the Pollution Prevention and Control Regulations 2000.

The court heard that in the early hours of 10 March 2007, the Cemex plant in Rugby overfilled one of its coal storage silos. As a result, between 1.6t and 3.1t of coal dust was released from the silo and a significant amount fell over the town of Rugby.

The EA received  nearly 100 complaints from local residents, who reported dust deposited on their cars, houses and in some cases through their windows.

This was an entirely preventable occurrence, the court was told. Cemex was served with an Enforcement Notice on 5 July 2007 which required compliance with its operating permit regarding the alarm mechanism in the silos.

However, this was not a case from which any human harm could have resulted.

Cemex took the incident extremely seriously and accepted that the appropriate tests and audits had not been carried out. The company had responded immediately and sent window cleaners and valets into Rugby to carry out the clean up operation. A letter of apology was sent to all the affected residents.

David Hudson of the Environment Agency said: "We have been working hard with the community in Rugby to build trust between them and Cemex. It’s disappointing when incidents like this happen to undermine that trust." 

A spokeswoman for Cemex said: "We are extremely sorry for the inconvenience this caused to our neighbours. Cemex recognizes that the release was due to a faulty probe; a sophisticated piece of equipment designed to prevent the coal silo over-filling, and therefore accepts the fine imposed by the court."