Displaying items by tag: Canada

Canada/USA: McInnis Cement's plan to import cement through the Port of Providence, Rhode Island is scheduled for a hearing on 12 November 2015 at Providence City Hall on its request for tax incentives to improve its local facility.

McInnis USA, a subsidiary of Montreal-based McInnis Cement, has requested a 12-year tax stabilisation agreement for the property taxes it will pay on planned improvements to an industrial building at ProvPort. The company has requested a similar tax stabilisation agreement for tangible property taxes.

The site would be turned over to McInnis under a long-term lease, which would restore the facility as a taxable location. Under the property tax stabilisation agreement, the company would pay taxes of US$50,000 for the first three years. Full taxes would begin to be phased in in the fourth year, based on a projected assessment of US$5m. The full value of its Providence facility would be determined in the seventh year, after which full taxes would begin to be phased in.

McInnis Cement operates a limestone quarry in southern Quebec and is building a 2.2Mt/yr cement plant, as well as a maritime terminal, in Gaspesie, a town in Quebec, Canada.

Canada: The Lafarge Brookfield cement plant in Nova Scotia, Canada, is celebrating its 50th anniversary of operations in 2015.

In 1957, the Canada Cement Company sent a team of engineers and land surveyors to Nova Scotia, Canada to search for a limestone deposit suitable for the construction of a cement plant. Out of 27 potential sites, Brookfield received the nod of approval. The company proceeded over the next few years to build a US$25m state-of-the-art cement plant. Production began on 29 September 1965.

While the raw materials mixture and fuels used for production have changed in the past five decades, the overall method of manufacturing remains the same, according to Plant Manager ScarthMacDonnell. "In some ways the plant has not changed a bit since it opened up. The fundamental process of cement manufacturing has not changed. The products we make, the fuels we use and the environmental footprint has completely transformed. So the cements we make today make 25% less carbon dioxide then they did when the plant started up," said MacDonnell. He added that more than 20% of the energy used for cement production comes from recycled materials.

More than 1000 individuals have earned a living working at Lafarge over the past 50 years while continuously producing cement that has been used in countless projects, big and small. By far the biggest showcase project the plant has been involved with was providing all the cement used in the construction of the Confederation Bridge, between New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. "It was a very special recipe," said MacDonnell, of the 250,000t of cement used for the project. "It was a specialised, high-performance cement that was required for the job and it was a different product than was normally made."

Despite 50 years of mining, the reserves in the limestone deposit discovered back in 1957 are far from being depleted. "We've got well over 25 years of stone still on the property," said MacDonnell. "And there's more there if we want to go get it."

Canada: McInnis Cement and the St Elzear Forestry Cooperative Association (ACF) have signed a cooperative agreement to study the feasibility of using forest biomass as an auxiliary fuel for the cement plant under construction in Port-Daniel-Gascons.

The utilisation of forest biomass as an alternative fuel would enable the McInnis cement plant to reduce its emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG). McInnis Cement has provided the equipment necessary for the use of alternative fuels at its new cement plant.

"We are pleased to establish this collaboration with the region's forest industry in line with our GHG reduction plan," said Christian Gagnon, president and CEO of McInnis Cement. "Any operations that result from this agreement will be reviewed by the Environmental Committee, whose work began in April 2015," he added.

Forest biomass is a fuel source in abundant supply in Gaspé. McInnis Cement requires a local long-term quality source of supply at competitive costs. The St Elzear ACF is able to supply forest residues, wood chips, sawdust, shavings and bark.

"By studying the possibilities together, including from the outset the client's needs and the capabilities of potential suppliers, we are putting all the pieces in place to make this project a reality," said Sebastien Roy, executive director of the St Alzear ACF. "The success of a fruitful partnership between McInnis and our organisation would be a big boost to our industry. The situation is complex since, beyond availability, supply sources need to be guaranteed over the long-term and quality and prices must remain competitive, including product transportation and processing costs."

Canada: The Vancouver Sun has reported that a pair of bald eagles that have nested in a tree on the Lafarge industrial site in Vancouver have been beset by tragedy after the mother eagle died, leaving two baby eagles as orphans.

Lafarge had built a new nesting platform up a 20m pole in 2009, but the eagles used it for perching only and continued to nest elsewhere. The eagles hatched two eaglets in April 2015, but on 13 June 2015 the female was electrocuted by power lines while being chased by crows. The loss has devastated conservationists who had long worked to protect the pair and has left them wondering if the male eagle can continue to successfully raise his young until they are fledged, in about four weeks.

"We are just heartsick over this tragedy," said Karen Bills, project coordinator for the Hancock Wildlife Foundation, which worked with Lafarge to install the artificial nest.

Afghanistan: According to the BBC, following a meeting with the first vice president of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Gen Abdorrashid Dostum, several Canadian businessmen said that they would invest US$8bn dollars in Afghanistan and later increase that amount.

The funds will be invested in the construction of a hydropower dam in Fariab Province and the extraction of gas and petroleum in Sheberghan City. Work to build a cement plant in Samangan Province, the extraction of coal in Takhar Province and gemstones in Badakhshan Province and an iron plant will also be part of their programmes. All the activities will be under control of the Afghan government, the World Bank and other Afghan government institutions.

US/Canada: Lafarge and Holcim have received final approval for their proposed merger from the competition authorities in the US and Canada. All competition approvals necessary for closing the transaction have now been obtained ahead of the expected closing in July 2015.

Following the regulatory assessment in all key jurisdictions, Holcim and Lafarge can now present a final list of divestments to satisfy regulatory requirements. These divestments remain subject to the completion of the merger, including a successful public exchange offering to Lafarge's shareholders and approval by Holcim's shareholders.

Canada: Global Cement has taken centre-stage for delegates registering at the IEEE-IAS/PCA 2015 Cement Industry Technical Conference with copies of the April 2015 issue on offer. The conference runs from 26 – 30 April 2015 at the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel in Toronto, Canada.

Delegates attending the IEEE-IAS/PCA 2015 can keep informed about the conference cement plant tour by reading a feature interview with the team who run St Marys Bowmanville. The plant tour is scheduled to take place on Thursday 30 April. The April 2015 issue of Global Cement Magazine also includes a country feature on the Canadian cement industry.

US/Candada: Montreal-based McInnis Cement plans to build a US$40m distribution warehouse along the East River in the Bronx, New York, in the hopes of reducing truck traffic in the borough as well as developing its waterfront, according to local media.

McInnis Cement will transport cement down the river from Quebec in 35,000t loads. McInnis will still use trucks to deliver cement from the warehouse to customers, but the new facility should decrease the trucking situation in the borough. "We've done a pretty thorough analysis of the trucking effect in the local community and, in general, we believe that trucking will go down," said Jim Braselton, senior vice president of sales, marketing and logistics at McInnis Cement.

As part of the project, McInnis Cement plans to build a pedestrian pathway on the waterfront. It aims to break ground on the project by the end of the summer of 2015, with completion by the end of 2016.

Canada: Following a mediation session, McInnis Cement, the Centre québécois du droit de l'environnement (CQDE), the Conseil régional de l'environnement Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine (CREGIM) and Nature Québec have agreed to the creation of an Environmental Committee to monitor McInnis Cement's plant in Gaspé, Quebec. The first meeting will be held as soon as possible. The mediation also led to specific commitments regarding greenhouse gases (GHG), emissions and impacts on marine mammals and aquatic fauna.

The mediation process resulted from the agreement with McInnis when the CQDE withdrew from the proceedings filed in August 2014 against the Environment Minister, in which McInnis Cement was a party. The role of the committee is to monitor environmental matters and issue recommendations. In addition to monitoring GHG emissions and emissions listed in the NESHAP 2015 US standards and monitoring the Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) protocol on impacts on marine mammals and aquatic fauna, the committee will also address impacts on the physical environment, vegetation and wetlands, natural habitats and biodiversity, landscape, as well as any other environmental issue agreed to by the committee.

The committee will meet at least four times a year and report on its activities to the plant's Citizen Liaison Committee. An independent facilitator will ensure the efficient functioning of the committee. The parties appointed Richard Loiselle, a former director of the École des pêches et de l'aquaculture du Québec as facilitator. In the event of a disagreement, the Honourable Jacques Blanchard was appointed as an independent mediator.

The Environmental Committee will be comprised of eight members; two citizens from the plant's impact zone (one of which is a member of the cement plant's Citizen Liaison Committee), a representative of the CREGIM, a representative of Nature Québec, a representative of the Centre d'initiation, de recherche et d'aide au développement durable (CIRADD), a representative of the ZIP Baie-des-Chaleurs committee, a representative of the Conseil de l'eau Gaspésie-Sud and a representative of McInnis Cement. A professional from the Ministry of Sustainable Development, Environment and the Fight against Climate Change (MSDEFCC) will also be invited to attend meetings.

Following the mediation process, McInnis Cement reiterated its commitment to use biomass to substitute a significant portion of its fuel requirements. It committed US$470,957 over the next three years towards feasibility or technical studies and projects to reduce GHG. McInnis Cement also confirmed its commitment to use selective non-catalytic reduction (SNCR) technology to reduce emissions from the plant and comply with NESHAP standards. As for the impacts on aquatic fauna, the committee will follow-up on the commitments agreed to in the protocol signed with DFO.

Canada: A British Colombia programme that recycles Keurig coffee K-Cups into cement has been so successful that it may expand into Alberta. The Lafarge cement plant in Kamloops, British Colombia, Canada used about 1.4m K-Cups as ash in its cement in 2014 after teaming up with Van Houtte Coffee Services, which collects the used pods for recycling.

"I think we've been fairly successful here," said Eric Isenor, the Lafarge Kamlooops plant manager. "Van Houtte is happy with the programme so far and is looking to expand." He added that the company might start collecting the used pods in Alberta, Canada for recycling in British Colombia.

The single-serving coffee pods are not recyclable because they are a mixture of materials coffee grounds, a paper filter, plastic cup and foil top that cannot be efficiently separated. After collecting the used coffee pods, Van Houtte, a coffee service that delivers supplies to offices and retailers around Kamloops, brings them in large bins to the Lafarge cement plant for processing. The pods are dried out, shredded and heated to 2000°C to form ash, which is then used for cement production.