Displaying items by tag: Fine

US: Vicat subsidiary National Cement has received a fine of US$148,000 from the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) for exceeding mercury emissions regulations over a 123-day period between May 2019 and February 2020 at its integrated Ragland plant in Alabama. The Daily Home newspaper has reported that unexpectedly high mercury levels in coal and other raw materials burned as fuel during that time caused the breach, which the company immediately reported to ADEM.

National Cement president Spencer Weitman said, “The issue took several months to fix.” Multiple upgrades and operational changes solved the issue, including installation of a US$400,000 mercury absorption carbon injection system. ADEM said, “National Cement did not economically benefit from the emissions violations.”

In January 2020 National Cement began work on construction of a new US$250m kiln line, due for completion in 2022.

US: Titan America subsidiary Roanoke Cement has settled on a fine of US$3640 with the Virginia Department of Environment Quality (DEQ) for the breach of emissions regulations after a kiln gas outlet at its 1.5Mt/yr Troutville plant in Botetourt County, Virginia, recorded an average temperature of 121°C over a nine-hour period on 26 June 2019. Virginia DEQ enforcer Marvin Booth said there was ‘no documented harm to public health or the environment’ resulting from the violation.

India: The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has fined Aditya Birla flagship company Grasim Industries US40.6m for anti-competitive practices, specifically for failing to disclose its discount policy as instructed by the CCI. Accord Fintech News has reported that cement accounts for almost 50% of Grasim Industries’ profit.

Ireland: The Irish Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has won its case against Quinn Cement over the latter’s violation of emissions laws. The Impartial Reporter newspaper has reported that an EPA monitor recorded 36 breaches at Quinn Cement’s Ballyconnell plant between 5 October 2018 and 7 October 2018. The plant was also emitting four times the legal hydrogen chloride on 5 February 2019. Following its subsidiary company’s guilty plea, Quinn Industrial Holdings said via a spokesperson, “Though independent assessment confirmed there were no material environmental impacts arising, best practice environmental safety procedures were followed and production ceased on each occasion. Since then significant work and expenditure has been completed to prevent a recurrence.” The Cavan district court fined Quinn Cement Euro2000.

Australia: The New South Wales Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has issued a US$9800 fine and a clean-up order to Boral for damage caused by a discharge of slurry from its Maclean concrete plant. The Daily Examiner newspaper has reported that a member of the public alerted the body to the spill, which issued from a storm drain into the Clarence River, on 15 October 2019. EPA north regulatory operations director Karen Marler said that the slurry ‘appeared to have been discharging from the Boral plant for some time prior.’ She said, “Subsequent EPA inspections confirm the clean-up and actions taken to improve plant operation were effective.”

US: Lehigh Cement and Lehigh White Cement have agreed to an investment of US$12m for the installation of pollution control technology across their 11 active cement plants. US Fed News has reported that the upgrades can be expected to reduce net emissions of nitrous oxised (NO_x) by 4550t/yr and sulphur dioxide (SO₂) by 989t/yr. Lehigh Cement will additionally pay a US$1.3m civil penalty for past Clean Air Act violations.

Canada: Lafarge Canada has received a US$0.3m fine for failing as an employer to ensure that safety measures and procedures in the workplace were upheld. This follows the 2017 death of an employee who fell from a corroded catwalk at the company’s Beachville quarry.

Italy: The Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) has reduced a fine against Cementi Rossi by 20% to Euro4.6m. The fine relates to a penalty of Euro184m levied against a number of cement producers and the Italian Cement Association (AITEC), according to the Il Sole 24 Ore newspaper. The original fine of Euro5.8m was reduced following an appeal to the AGCM.

Paraguay: Cartes Group has been fined US$79,500 for cutting down trees near San Lazaro, Concepción where it is planning to build a new cement plant. It will also have to pay US$1.8m towards gaining environmental certificates for the project, according to the ABC Color newspaper. Cartes Group purchased Calera Risso, the company planning to build the new unit, in late 2018.

Environmental studies at the site have also noted caves that should be protected including the Risso Cavern, where a fossil of a giant sloth was found in 2012. The Paraguayan Federation of Speleology has asked the the Ministry of Environmetnal and Sustainablity (MADES) to safeguard the site that also holds microfossils dating back 550m years.

The Cementos Concepción plant project was announced in early 2019. It intends to build a 1Mt/yr cement plant by 2021 with an investment of US$180m.

Peru: The Supreme Court has upheld a fine of nearly US$2m by the National Institute for the Defense of Free Competition and the Protection of Intellectual Property (INDECOPI) on UNACEM. The penalty was levied due to UNACEM and its distribution network refusing to allow retailers to sell cement made by its competitor, according to the Gestión newspaper. INDECOPI said that in 2014 UNACEM and its collaborators refused to allow retailers to stock its Sol brand of cement if they were selling the rival Quisqueya brand produced by Mexico’s Cemex.