US: Holcim (US), the current owner-operator of the Hagerstown cement plant in Hagerstown, Maryland and St. Lawrence Cement, which previously owned the same facility, have agreed to pay a US$700,000 fine and improve emission controls at the facility to settle alleged air pollution violations, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The action against the Hagerstown plant is part of an on-going nationwide EPA effort to tighten pollution controls in the cement industry.
The proposed federal court consent decree requires Holcim to install 'advanced pollution controls' at the plant, Holcim also pledged to spend at least US$150,000 to replace outdated environmental protection equipment.
"It has been a long standing issue and now the company feels that it really is in its best interest to find a resolution," said Holcim spokeswoman Robin DeCarlo.
The Department of Justice filed suit on behalf of EPA in 2011 accusing Holcim and the plant's prior owner, St. Lawrence Cement, of violating the federal Clean Air Act from 2003 to 2007 by modifying the facility's cement kiln in a way that produced 'significant' increased emissions of SO2.
