UK Agency Serves Enforcement Order to Lafarge

The move follows the company exceeding the limits for emissions of hydrogen chloride and oxides of nitrogen from the 2 kilns, which burn waste tires for fuel. 

Lafarge is required to regularly submit monitoring results to the Environment Agency as part of its permit conditions and the figures exceeding the levels were identified as part of this process.

‘We have served Lafarge with a very stringent enforcement notice with specific actions and timescales for them to ensure the works meet the conditions of the permit,’ said Jim Flory for the Environment Agency.

New stricter limits were brought in at the works last December to enable Lafarge to operate as a co-incineration plant under the Waste Incineration Directive. The emissions of hydrogen chloride and oxides of nitrogen have not increased, but WID has imposed stricter limits on the works.

‘The limits are set well below the environmental thresholds and safety limits so the breaches have not caused any harm and will not affect the environment or people’s health.  However we are very concerned that the works are not meeting their new conditions and this is why we have issued this enforcement notice’, said Mr Flory.

The Agency’s enforcement notice gives Lafarge six weeks from February 22, 2006 to carry out a comprehensive and detailed review to pinpoint the actions that the company must take to comply with its new permit limits.

These actions will then be implemented to a timetable agreed with the Environment Agency.