US: Irish cement maker Ecocem's US subsidiary, Orcem Americas, has been accused of attempting to influence the planning process in Vallejo, California, where it wants to build a US$50m grinding mill. The mill would be the group's first venture in the US. However, the town's residents are objecting to the proposal on environmental grounds.

The company recently found itself at the centre of a row over its involvement with an unofficial economic committee of Vallejo's city council that some local politicians and campaigners say could potentially breach California law.

Orcem is represented on the Mare Island Straits Economic Development Committee, which is made up of local council members, state officials and private sector interests. Its involvement in the committee, alongside the city's Deputy Mayor, Jess Malgapo, at a time when it was seeking permission to build its facility at a sensitive site in Vallejo, sparked anger among the project's opponents. Some of them have claimed that its activities have potentially breached the Brown Act, a California law that guarantees the public's right to attend and take part in meetings of local councils and legislative bodies. However, the councillors involved, including Malgapo, deny the act was breached, saying that the committee was established to aid the city's economic development and not to pass legislation.