Displaying items by tag: Dust

Ghana: A court has issued an injunction for Empire Cement to desist from operating its unlicensed McCarthy Hills cement facility. Ghana News Agency has reported that the China-based producer's activities at the site present a health hazard to local people. The McCarthy Hills Residents' Association said that the company was established to be exclusively a producer of paper bags for cement products.

US: The Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) has ordered Holcim US to pay a US$100,000 fine for alleged fugitive dust emissions from its Theodore cement plant in Mobile. Between February and August 2022, witnesses reported multiple dust plumes sighted above the plant, which is situated on the Theodore canal. AL.Com News has reported that, while neither admitting or denying the contentions, Holcim US said that it has taken actions affecting its raw materials unloading processes to ensure compliance.

Plant manager Clay Copeland said “We have worked closely with the ADEM to address concerns raised earlier this year."

South Korea: UK-based TCRK has announced a deal with Asia Cement to use its carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) technology at the cement producer’s plant in Jaechon. The project will see the first commercial deployment of TCRK’s CCUS technology from the first quarter of 2023. It will initially target 30,000t/yr of CO₂ equivalent and then ramp up to 120,000t/yr of CO₂ equivalent by mid-2024. The second target is intended to help Asia Cement reduce its emissions by 20% required to meet its 2025 decarbonisation plan.

TCRK’s approach will use two processes to utilise capture CO₂ from cement production. Its Arago Cement Process uses captured CO₂, cement kiln dust and by-pass particles to produce precipitated calcium carbonate, which TCRK uses to produce a product called Arago Cement. The captured CO₂ will also be used to grow microalgae in a process called bio-fixation. This method will offer 10% extra carbon storage capacity. The microalgae has a wide range of potential end-products including bioplastics and animal feed, and can also be used as a source of bio-cement production.

US: The Board of County Commissioners of Boulder, Colorado, has denied Cemex USA’s application for a 15-year extension to its Dowe Flats quarry mining licence, following its expiry on 30 September 2022. Commissioner Claire Levy cited dust, traffic, noise and disturbances to wildlife as reasons behind the decision.

Cemex USA’s nearby Lyons cement plant has previously relied on the quarry for the supply of 760,000t/yr of limestone.

Canada: The Quebec Ministry of the Environment has ordered St Mary’s Cement’s integrated plant at Port-Daniel-Gascons to reduce its dust and other emissions to government-mandated levels. The notification follows an incident that occurred over the summer of 2020 and has reoccurred since on occasion. The order requires, amongst other measures, that the subsidiary of Brazil-based Votorantim allow an independent expert recognised by the department to carry out an assessment of air filtration equipment at the plant and propose ways to improve the situation.

Canada: The Canadian government’s Environment and Climate Change department has granted an extension to St Mary’s Cement to an order regarding alleged sticky dust emissions from its McInnis cement plant. The Journal de Québec newspaper has reported that the producer now has until 8 August 2022 to submit its observations on the situation. Environment and Climate Change Canada has identified 12 different equipment failures as contributors to the alleged illegal emissions. On 20 July 2022, it had received a total of 80 reports from the public about the situation.

Kyrgyzstan: Kant Cement has begun excavating the Severnaya Gryada limestone deposit near to its Kant cement plant. The producer says that the limestone has a higher purity than that from its existing Agalatas mine. It therefore expects the Kant plant to reduce its raw materials consumption and eliminate a part of its dust emissions. Kant Cement currently replaces a part of the limestone in the plant’s cement production with 65,000t/yr of fly ash.

UK: Holcim subsidiary Aggregate Industries has invested in a new monitoring system from Envirosuite for its Cauldon cement plant in Staffordshire. Called EVS Omnis, the cloud-based environmental management software will collate complex environmental information from surrounding sites outside the plant to facilitate proactive monitoring and management of its impacts. The producer expects to commission the system later in 2022.

Sustainability director Kirstin McCarthy said “Understanding the environment we operate in and the impact we’re having is integral to our business strategy and our commitment to building progress towards a more sustainable construction industry. We know that noise and dust can have an impact on surrounding communities, which is why we’re extremely proud to become the first cement plant in the world to commit to using a complete monitoring solution. EVS Omnis will allow us to continuously monitor at key community locations, 365 days a year. This will help us to not only better understand our operations within the local community but also give us insights into our processes to proactively manage them.”

India: Protestors have halted mining operations at JSW Cement’s Khatkurbahal mine in Odisha, which serves the company’s Sundargarh cement plant. The New Indian Express newspaper has reported that the protestors accuse the company of mining and dumping overburden on neighbouring agricultural land, damaging properties with debris from blasts, drying up six wells and creating excessive dust pollution. The protestors also complained that the mine has failed to create new jobs for local people.

Uzbekistan: United Cement Group (UCG) has successfully completed the modernisation of the grinding units at its Kuvasay cement plant in Fergana. The work consisted of installation of protective armour on the inner surface of mill drums and mill ends and the replacement of bar partitions between chambers with sectional partitions. This increased the total mass of the cylpebs to 43t from 39t and improved the mills’ efficiency. UCG also upgraded the units’ dust removal equipment, replacing their original electrostatic precipitators with RIF–0500–03 K and FRKI 360 bag filters. The group carried out the modernisation in collaboration with the Uzsanoatkurilishmateriallari Association and the Fergana Regional Committee for Environmental Safety.