LILIAN OF ARC

CALLS FOR URGENT PUBLIC INQUIRY!
OVER WASTE PLANT AT SOUTHAM OR AT RUGBY!

A RUGBY TIMES EXCLUSIVE
revealed that Lilian has challenged conventional candidates for the new parliamentary seat of Rugby, as Tory Jeremy Wright moves over to Southam.
They likened Lilian to Joan of Arc, riding to the rescue of Rugby, tirelessly working for Rugby residents, and well-known nationally as a determined environmental campaigner, challenging the government to properly implement the European Directives, and Aarhus Convention, and to allow British citizens their rightful Access to Justice, and right to redress of "environmental crimes", without becoming bankrupt.
Lilian, always serving Rugby, seeks no personal gain, being rewarded only by the grateful thanks of those suffering the environmental
detriment, loss of amenity, poor air quality, and health effects, delivered by the "dubious actions" of the local authorities, the Environment Agency and
the industrial polluters. The usual Warwickshire County Council practise of failing to consult the public, and of "nodding through" retrospective planning permissions to the benefit of industry, and at great cost to the public, must end - NOW!

RUGBY BOROUGH COUNCIL TO SUPPORT PUBLIC INQUIRY?
QUESTION FOR CABINET 2ND JUNE 2008:

Cemex are submitting a planning application for a huge waste processing plant for 1,000 tonnes a day of household, commercial and industrial waste, to be "imported" from all over the country to an urban area on Parkfield Road. From this total 360 tonnes of Refuse Derived Fuel will be burnt each day in the Cemex co-incinerator, leaving a residue of 640 tonnes to go where, for recycling and landfill?
Rugby residents are very concerned about the cumulative impact of the Cemex operations, which have never had any Environmental Impact Assessment , and we are calling for a full open debate about the comparative merits of using the much larger rural site at Southam, or the smaller urban site at Rugby which is in an area already polluted, with high levels of particulate, daily exceedances of the PM10 objective, and also in the nitrogen dioxide AQMA, where pollution is set to rise significantly due to the routing of the new Western Relief Road along Parkfield Road.
As Parliamentary Candidate and an behalf of Rugby in Plume I am calling for a full open debate, and an urgent PUBLIC INQUIRY. Will this Cabinet, and Rugby Council, support the people of Rugby and call for a Public Inquiry - as "Rugby has had enough!"
Lilian Pallikaropoulos

Cemex Starts Rugby-Southam War

CAST YOUR VOTE NOW: ON A LOCAL SOLUTION TO A LOCAL PROBLEM?

RUGBY OR SOUTHAM WASTE PLANT?
To be discussed IN SECRET on Friday 24th May at Rugby Town Hall.
CEMEX ask WARWICKSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL to approve their planning application for a 1,000 tonne a day WASTE HANDLING/PROCESSING PLANT: 240,000 tonnes year MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE, COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL WASTE MATERIALS, and 125,000 tpa of imported SRF type material or "Climafuel" from other MBT facilities.

DEVELOPMENT - SIX FEATURES:
Reception and Process Building; Materials recycling facility; Blending House; Buffer storage area;
Bio-filter Area to house Environmental control systems such as water and air; plus who knows how many juggernauts!


PROCESSING (MBT Mechanical Biological Treatment and MHT Mechanical Heat Treatment) and BLENDING 125,000 tonnes a year imported ready-made "climafuel" for "blending" in with some of the 240,000 tonnes domestic, commercial and industrial wastes, in order to provide 130,000 tonnes of "climafuel" for burning in the calciner at the Cemex co-incinerator : where it is being used as a 100% replacement, at 15 tonnes per hour (360 tpd) along with 6 tonnes of tyres (144tpd), to replace 16 tonnes of coal (504 tonnes waste daily to substitute for 384 tonnes coal). Grimsby Port Authority' has a three year contract to handle the importation of Dutch/European "climafuel" for South Ferriby and Barrington plants.
WHY IMPORT WASTE, and where does the rest go?

SSSSHHH! TOP SECRET TEA PARTY!

CEMEX TAKE OVER SCRUFFY-TOWN HALL!

"RUGBY TO BECOME EVEN MORE A CEMEX WASTE DUMP!"
SAY COUNCILLORS, AS COUNCIL TAXES USED, YET AGAIN, TO SUBSIDISE RUGBY CEMENT.
23 MAY - PRIVATE PRESENTATION!
NO PUBLIC! NO PRESS!
NO WITNESSES!

MARK THE BALLOT ON CODE OF CONDUCT:
THE TEN GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF RUGBY COUNCILLORS, OR NOT?
1. Selflessness - serve only public interest; never confer advantage or disadvantage.
2. Honesty and Integrity - avoid appearance of improper behaviour.
3. Objectivity - decisions on merit.
4. Accountability - to the public.
5. Openness - open and justify actions.
6. Personal Judgement - take account of public's view.
7. Respect for others - equality and not discrimination.
8. Duty to uphold the law - act in accordance with public trust.
9. Stewardship - use resources prudently.
10 Leadership - secure or preserve public confidence.
11 NONE OF THE ABOVE?



JOIN THE "KEEP CEMEX HAPPY CLUB!"
Despite the highly contentious and controversial nature of this latest Cemex proposition, our pleas to all 48 Councillors for openness, honesty
integrity, and transparency fall on deaf ears as they continue to discriminate against the public, serving only Cemex, as they squander our Council
Taxes on secret meetings - just as Warwickshire County Council does - in an apparent aim to "keep Cemex happy!"


ERIN BROCKOVICH NEEDED IN RUGBY!
With the continued public involvement, and wide-spread support, united we continue to "fight for the future of Rugby!" We do our best against the great odds put up by those who, using public money, are self-serving, ignorant of the scientific facts; those in authority, who have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo by intimidation, deception, and control. Matt Wright's letter in the Rugby Times "History will have the last word over Lilian" is very heartening, praising as it does our "passion to fight wrong doing", our "refusal to take the line of least resistance and to roll over and die", and our unshakeable "belief in people power and justice for ordinary folk!" The fight against the wrong-doers goes on! In another letter Martin Pope asks Cemex for a re-spray, and questions the damage to his lungs, as he comments on the nature of the cement dust on his classic car - which he likens to "grinding paste" when washed off with a sponge and water.

ERIN BROCKOVICH, mentioned by Matt in his letter, is famous for the Julia Roberts film on hexavalent chromium poisoning in a water supply. ERIN has been called to HELP RIVERSIDE cement plant locals, and is currently investigating the high rate of cancer, and high blood levels of hexavalent chromium, evident in the residents who live down wind of the TXI Riverside Cement Plant. These carcinogenic emissions are among the many other poisonous pollutants found in cement plant emissions, and in the so-called "white dust" that descends on residents near cement plants everywhere. (see Los Angeles Times - Rubidoux). There are no monitors in Rugby for any of the toxic pollutants and metals that are being emitted 24/7, nor for cancer-causing vaporised mercury, arsenic, lead, dioxins etc.


COUNCILLORS TO NOD THROUGH MORE POLLUTION AND DIRT?
In the meantime what do the 48 Rugby Councillors do about the environment, dust, and emissions that pour out onto Rugby residents? They care not a jot as they squander yet more of our Council Taxes, subsidising Cemex, inviting them to "take tea", and permitting them to take over the Town Hall (23 May), and giving them unfettered access in order to lobby the Councillors, in secret, with "private pre-application discussions and presentations".


RUGBY SUCKERZ!
Why does Cemex not hire a room accessible to the public? Hardly likely while Rugby residents pay up for them to have secret Council meetings. How far this "SECRET SHOW" will influence the Councillors remains to be seen, but with such self-serving wimps at the helm it seems inevitable that the proposed 1,000 tonne a day waste processing plant on the Malpass landfill site on Parkfield Road, New Bilton will be nodded through, nicely situated alongside the cement plant so all the emissions can accumulate and blow
over the town in the prevalent "favourable" westerly winds. ANOTHER NAIL IN THE COFFIN OF SCRUFFY TOWN!

Suck it up Rugby!

RUGBY TOWN TOPS LEAGUE TABLE FOR DIRTIEST STREETS IN WEST MIDLANDS!

WE SEE IT HERE, WE SEE IT THERE, DIRT AND DUST ON EVERYWHERE!

The Rugby Advertiser 8 May 8th, quoting UNION GMB survey labelled Rugby, "SCRUFFY TOWN", as Rugby was "pipped at the post", and deprived of actually being branded the dirtiest town out of the 34 entrants, being beaten only by the more filthy streets of Birmingham, Coventry, Bedworth and Nuneaton. 19% of the Rugby streets fell below the acceptable level of cleanliness."There are still too many councils not putting enough effort and resources into keeping the streets clean, and that has got to change!"

SAMPLE OF LETTERS IN PRESS:
MASKS. MOON DUST, FAIRIES, POLLEN?

LEAVE LILIAN ALONE: I write for everyone in Rugby and beyond who are concerned for their health, safety, and quality of life. Here in Rugby we have a dedicated lady, Lilian P, showing concerns over the Cemex factory. She does not "ride the gravy train" and I do not think (Rugby Cement gifts of) "flowers" or "roof tiles" will silence her. Please invite a Sioux Indian to visit Rugby to read the smoke signals coming from the chimney and tell people the truth? Otherwise we have no chance! (Lawford resident)

THE ANSWER IS BLOWING IN THE WIND:
THIS TIME I suppose we have to blame the pesky Sahara desert for the measurable thickness of dust deposited on our cars? Perhaps Cemex's bunkers, hoppers and chimneys act as a natural barrier, a bit like the Pennine Chain, and Saharan sand is precipitated on one side only, like rain in Manchester? Still I cannot sit here musing all day, I have to collect yet another Beclazone inhaler for my wife, who seems to be getting through rather a lot lately. Must be that pesky Saharan dust! (Shakespeare Gardens)

COVERED IN DUST - YET AGAIN I awake to find my home and car covered in filth. I am an arthritic pensioner meaning all cleaning jobs are difficult. Consequently I have this week paid £15 to have my windows cleaned and £6.50 for my car - for what? Perhaps Cemex are now employing fairies to sprinkle moon dust over us all for good luck? That could well be the next ridiculous excuse they expect us stupid rate-payers to accept. Lilian P wisely advises us to move away, or to wear masks. I cannot afford to move else I would be off like a shot. And as for wearing masks it should be Cemex management wearing those so we don't recognise them in public. There again why bother? They don't hang about of live in the firing line do they? (Cherwell Way)

LAST WEEK Cemex brazenly denied they were responsible for dust that was clearly seen leaving their factory, was reported by the public, and which landed on cars and property. They always say "complaints investigated - case not proven" - so eye-witness accounts mean nothing. During the UK-wide dust episode the Environment Agency were inundated by calls, as reported in the Rugby Advertiser. "Annoyed residents from all areas of Rugby say they believe it came from Rugby Cement because it USUALLY does!"


CEMEX WASTE PLANT FILTH!!
1,000 TONNES A DAY: planned for Rugby Malpass Site, by Cemex, who will begin the process by the usual "secret" meetings with Rugby Councillors (May 28?) in order to "soften them up", in the usual way, by pre-consultation consultation, and in the pre-application application, before they finally submit the application giving the public just three weeks to respond.

CAN RUGBY TAKE ANY MORE DUST AND POLLUTION IN THE AIR, ANY MORE DIRT AND FILTH ON OUR STREETS?

IS IT MERE CO-INCIDENCE THAT THIS TOWN HAS GONE STEADILY DOWN HILL SINCE THE NEW RUGBY WORKS WAS OPENED IN FEBRUARY 2000?

MYSTERY DUST EXPLAINED?

AS MERELY SPRING CLEANING?

UK-WIDE COMPLAINTS ROLL IN - POSSIBILITIES REPORTED IN THE PRESS:
Cemex co-incinerator trials of tyres and RDF in Rugby?
Grangemouth oil refinery restart?
Drakelow power station - oops - its closed down?
Farmers burning stubble - in May?
Dunbar Lafarge Cement - sulphur and plume grounding reported?
SEPA: "particles are mix of sand, road dust and plants."
MET OFFICE: Saharan sand.
MET OFFICE: Spain.
Pollen from Europe?
Smoke from Europe - Russian fires?
Chemical weapons testing?
Volcano in Chile?
Cyclone in Burma?
Olympic flame?
Sponsored chimney sweep?
Housewives spring cleaning?


WASTE FUELS : "DREAD" TERMS?
The HEALTH PROTECTION AGENCY reportedly, at the the 11th Institute of Environment and Health meeting at Cranfield, outlined the "problems" of communicating to the public that the burning of waste in cement kilns SHOULD lead to no increased health effects. So there we have it, straight from the horses mouth - there are health effects but these should not increase - over what level? And how is this assessed?

This issue had consumed so much of their time and energy, but "there is public concern which we ignore at our peril. In many ways what we've seen is an object lesson in how not to do it, and more recently how to do it - through COMEAP. The cement industry has not covered itself in glory in the past and the Profuel/Cemfuel/Climafuel are on their way to becoming "dread" terms."

COMEAP: TIGHT CONTROLS NEEDED!
The HPA when first set up was welcomed by residents and protesters as a new independent body to review scientific evidence, but this view has now begun to erode, and the HPA is seen as an "ally of industry!" COMEAP has been approached five times on the issue of waste in cement kilns. Given the numerous combinations of different types of waste fuels and processes COMEAP has found it hard to be able to give the "all-clear" for all fuels and all combinations based on the data provided. They are shortly expected to publish a report giving the okay for waste fuels, but crucially it will say that MANAGEMENT CONTROLS WILL NEED TO BE TIGHT.

PUBLIC CONCERN TO END? WRONG!
The HPA are said to be "waiting with baited breath for the report which hopefully will go some way towards ending public concern."

PUBLIC CONCERN WILL NOT END!
The HPA said there were many "claimed" advantages for burning Refuse derive Fuel, waste tyres meat and bone meal. "Cement kilns require a huge amount of energy and high temperatures and long residence times means that many potentially toxic products are either destroyed or absorbed in the cement and clinker."

But all this ignores the very real threat posed by the unmonitored Low Level Point Sources which emit constantly as the clinker is ground into cement "dust" which carries on each bag hazard warnings! These emissions also must contain "the toxic products" that are supposedly safely absorbed into the cement dust? The addition of unquantified/unspecified industrial wastes at all stages of the process as substitutes for, or in addition to, many of the raw materials has never been assessed by anyone. At RUGBY there was no consultation, and no planning permission for storage, no chemical analysis, and no EU waste codes; - as COMEAP concentrate their attention on the "alternative fuels" as described above. These over 100% coal replacements (16 tph coal replaced by 6 tph tyres and 15 tph RDF) in any case do not even go into the kiln, but are burnt in the calciner at lower temperatures , with short residence time, and the gases go in a contraflow to heat up the raw materials, before being emitted via the main stack - or escaping sometimes as fugitive emissions.

COAL TO BE USED ON START-UP:
The IPPC permits specifically state that "no waste is to be burnt on start-up, or shut down, and when the kiln is running at less than 200 tonnes an hour raw meal feed." No satisfactory explanation has ever been given for this, so one can only conclude there is "something" much worse about the emissions from the wastes than the coal? Otherwise why would they start to pay £60 a tonnes for coal when they could be £90 a tonne better off by being paid £30 a tonne to burn waste instead. We also "await the COMEAP report with baited breath" and it remains to be seen if COMEAP had better go back to the drawing board?

RUGBY.. DIRTIEST GRUBBIEST TOWN

TOWN COATED IN MYSTERY DUST - YET AGAIN!
THAT'S OFFICIAL!

ENVIRONMENT AGENCY IN DENIAL - YET AGAIN!

* "Our 2006 air quality survey (see RBC web) does not support Lilian's suggestion that she is merely a spokesperson for an actively-concerned public : it indicates that most people are broadly satisfied with their local environment and air quality."

* "Local residents have failed to show any continuing interest in operations at the Rugby plant."

* The Agency simply does not believe people in Rugby are bothered at all about the cement works, nor about being covered in dust and pollution, and claims "the extent of the residents' concerns is questionable".

* "There is no evidence of widespread public support or concern in Rugby."

* The Agency criticised the Rugby public's lack of response to the continuous consultations on yet ever more Cemex applications, describing Rugby residents as having no "active interest"!



RESIDENTS UP IN ARMS - YET AGAIN! as yet another bank Holiday is spent washing their cars and windows after an over night coating with dust. The "dust", which was so thick that residents could not even see out of their car windows, has coated cars, conservatories, caravans, window ledges and any other flat surfaces, and has been reported across the whole of the town after a still, airless night.


ENVIRONMENT AGENCY BESIEGED - YET AGAIN!
Complaints have deluged the Environment Agency switchboard, with calls right across the town from Long Lawford, New Bilton, Bilton , Hillmorton - postal codes CV22, CV21, and CV23.


LORDS JUDGEMENT RIGHT - YET AGAIN! * "After all the inhabitants of Rugby had been living with A cement works for a long time..."
* "In other words there was already so much dust in the air of Rugby..." that perhaps adding a few more hundred tonnes a year makes no difference?
* "The local people were sceptical and reluctant to be experimented upon."


DR EVANS OF RUGBY CEMENT EXPLAINS - YET AGAIN!
that Rugby Cement did not consider it necessary to tell the public AT ANY STAGE, - not during the "secret" WCC planning application/s, nor during construction, nor during the secret IPC, nor during the grossly misleading IPPC application that they cunningly called "tyre burning application" - about the levels of dust to which they would be constantly exposed from the Low Level Point Sources, and about the frequent exposure to "fugitive dust".

House of Lords 19/20:

QUOTE: "The application said nothing however about the effect of adding the contribution of emissions of PM10 from LLPS to the ambient air quality.
The consultants had not been asked to include these emissions in their computer model. Dr Evans explained in his second witness statement: 'The rationale for this was that releases from the main stack were considered to be of more significance than those from other point sources such as the cement mills, where there would be lower discharge volumes and concentrations. We considered the general risk assessment approach to be satisfactory and in line with general guidance.' One reason for excluding the LLPS from the company's modelling exercise MAY have been the GREAT DIFFICULTY of doing so with ANY PRETENCE AT ACCURACY.

Whereas emissions from the main stack are continuous (???!) and from a single fixed point above all surrounding buildings, the emissions from the LLPS are from a number of different places at different heights for irregular periods of time and MAYBE (???!) affected by the layout of the buildings. An attempt at modelling MAY therefore not have been able to produce very helpful information."

LILIAN'S COMMENT :"A LIKELY STORY" - YET AGAIN!
Is this a joke? So they built a 2,000,000 tonne a year capacity cement works, with NO ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT!
Then they admit that neither the EA nor Rugby Cement, and much less so the hapless Warwickshire County Council planners, had ever considered WHAT EMISSIONS were to come out of it from the various sources, and WHERE the emissions were to fall and what environmental, air quality and health impact this would have on the long-suffering Rugby residents?

Even though the plant had, by the time of the IPPC application, been running for 18 months still there was NO REAL LIVE DATA available from the 19 LLPS as they have NO MONITORS at all! Rugby Cement "attempted" to do some dispersion modelling of what they said was "from the the installation", but it was in fact of the "main stack only", in order to convince the "sceptical public who were reluctant to be experimented upon" that there was "no problem".
No information was in the public domain, and with repeated complaints by the dust-coated public the Agency then decided to "dispersion model" the emissions from the LLPS - in two secret AQMAU reports - which shocked both them and Rugby Cement so much that they decided to hide them. "Rugby Cement expressed great concern about this information getting into the public domain!" Even at the end of 2002 the Agency could not get information
out of Rugby Cement as to what was being emitted from where, because no-one had EVER considered it as important, and Rugby Cement struggled to find any "ACTUAL DATA" to give to the Agency. The Agency's top scientists in the AQMAU team said this application fell far short of what would be considered adequate, and there were so many gaps in the data - despite the plant having run for THREE YEARS!!

However the Health Protection Agency, under its former name of the Chemical Hazards Research Unit at Birmingham University had already pointed out in response to the IPPC application, in 2001, (the application that ONLY they ever saw!!) that the mills and other low level sources were emitting at far too high a rate and were likely to be very detrimental to the air quality in Rugby. No level of particulate is safe!