Cement plant builds up list of 292 emission limit violations

A CEMENT works in East Lothian exceeded emission limits 292 times last year, according to environment watchdog Sepa.

A new report shows how the LaFarge plant near Dunbar failed to pass Sepa's operator assessment for large industrial sites.

The terms of the plant's environmental licence means there are daily limits on the amount of dust it can emit, to protect human health. However, the breaches were all just over the limits and the company has recently invested in new equipment which has significantly reduced its emissions.

A Sepa spokeswoman said: "Air quality standards which are set to protect the environment and human health are not believed to have been exceeded

"The limits for dust, nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide were only marginally exceeded and the contribution of emissions from Lafarge to ambient air quality, for these pollutants, under normal operating conditions is well below the air quality standards.

"Sepa chose not to take formal enforcement action because the limits were only marginally exceeded and Lafarge, was already taking satisfactory action to resolve the problems."