Egypt: Suez Cement’s Kattameya plant has been damaged by the collapse of a soil barrier around a nearby wastewater treatment lake. The incident caused a flood of 1.5Mm3 of treated water that reached the edge of the cement plant. The plant’s quarry, some power cables and lighting and a road was damaged. No members of staff at the plant were hurt.
The subsidiary of HeidelbergCement estimates that the flood caused around Euro0.5m worth of damage. It says that it previously raised the issue of the wastewater treatment lake with its owner in 2010 following a risk assessment. This led to the construction of the soil barriers.