ITS PLUMING AWFUL!

WATCH:"THE BARRISTERS" BBC 2 FRIDAY 9.00 PM DECEMBER 5th..

IT FEATURES RUGBY'S BATTLE FOR CLEAN AIR!"

CARTEL?
CEMEX OFFICES RAIDED:
by European Union Competition Authority, in the UK and in Germany, (along with Lafarge )on suspicion of PRICE FIXING and operating a CARTEL. (4 Nov)  The cement industry was previously fined millions for operating as a cartel, dividing up cement markets and sharing information, according to EU competition documents.

CEMEX IN TROUBLE WORLD WIDE
Things are not going well for Cemex: President  Hugo Chavez seized Cemex plants in Venezuela and so far has not paid the demanded $1.3 billion in compensation. Chavez  said on TV that  Cemex fixed the price of cement, controlled the market, prevented the poor from getting houses,  and also polluted the air and the children's lungs. Also the BARRINGTON  Cambridge cement works is to close, with 87 redundancies, as it is suddenly  inefficient  and uncompetitive. It is feared that the HAZARDOUS FUELS burnt there will now come to Rugby's CO-INCINERATOR,  and to South Ferriby!! Cemex is rationalising and cost-cutting to try to service massive loans incurred as it took over RINKER and has made 10% of the world wide work force redundant, and is selling off properly all over the world.

MONEY SAVER ADVICE FOR CEMEX?
RUGBY CEMENT SHOULD BE CLOSED, AND THE REAL ESTATE SOLD OFF FOR LIGHT INDUSTRY AND HOUSING!

HEALTH IMPACT ASSESSMENT ESSENTIAL!
WORSE IS YET TO COME - and now CEMEX in PARTNERSHIP WITH WARWICKSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL  want to build another WASTE BURNING and WASTE PROCESSING factory in Rugby, with yet another stack (45 metres), and semi-permanent plume of about 20 tonnes an hour, to pour out onto  this long-suffering, already disadvantaged area of "multiple  deprivation", where life expectancy, and life chances are not good! AVON VALLEY SCHOOL will be directly in line for the new fall-out, and the health-damaging PARTICULATE PM2.5 has DOUBLED there in three years since the "CO-INCINERATION " experiments began. What Did RUGBY BOROUGH COUNCIL and FABER MAUNSELL air contractors do? In June 20007, they took ALL the monitors away to ENSURE that "nobody knows"  about the increase in particulate, and the huge increase all over Rugby of exceedances of the daily objective for PM10  of 50 micrograms per metre cubed.

Meanwhile Cemex continues to breach its ENVIRONMENT AGENCY IPPC PERMIT - and to exceed the permitted ELVs for dioxin;particulate;cadmium, thallium etc etc. The Agency has threatened a £50,000 fine and/or 12 months in prison.


JEREMY WRIGHT MP FOR RUGBY:
acts as HOST for CEMEX at House of Commons Reception 20 November 7.00 pm, to mark the publication of a new book: "A CLIMATE FOR LIFE", along with Conservation International. Of course our requests for an invite have been met by stony silence. The EA says: "We have FULLY briefed MP Jeremy Wright . RBC is a hung council and its political leadership  has changed 3 times in the past 5 years. This presents a challenge to all involved!"

JEREMY QUESTIONS CAULDON SHEEP!
as the EA try to convince him that there is no need to worry at Rugby, and have  taken him to CAULDON cement plant to see "yet another typical cement plant like Rugby" - except it is  in a field full of sheep, miles from anywhere. Jeremy Wright was said to be disappointed that no-one lived within two miles, and that he could only ask local sheep what they thought about the emissions and dangers and increased risks to them and their environment and air. Disappointingly,   due to the lack of an interpretor,  Jeremy could not report back to the Rugby residents what the sheep actually said. The EA had falsely promised to trial the new DIOXIN continuous sampler at Rugby, but in the  trials at RADCLIFFE  it showed much higher readings than the conventional  twice a year (occasional on a good-day) sampling,  (OBVIOUSLY!!),  so they decided instead to trial it at Cauldon, thus ensuring no public questions as  only sheep would have to be told the result. When asked why they changed  their  minds and decided not to  protect the people of Rugby with better monitoring the Agency said "Don't you think these sheep deserve better protection as well?"  " instead of people?"   as actually is the case at Rugby!

ENVIRONMENT AGENCY UPDATE:
STILL REFUSES:  to attend community meetings; to answer any questions; provide information even under the Freedom of Information Act; discriminates against  any member of the public who asks questions; cannot monitor for chromium VI; puts burden of proof onto public etc.

SENSITIVE ISSUES AND CONTENTIOUS SITES:
"We continue to receive regular requests for information from Mrs P who since January 2005 has been treated as a VEXATIOUS COMPLAINANT in accordance with our Complaints  and Commendations Policy. MRS P has been informed that we will only provide a response if her query related to a specific consultation, a pollution incident, or comes from the Rugby Cement Community Forum. (which the EA REFUSES TO ATTEND or to answer!) However MRS P is now using the Freedom of Information Act and Environmental nformation Regulations to seek extensive information not just about Rugby Cement, but also other sites e.g Castle cement at Ribblesdale. We are DISCUSSING how we will deal with such requests!" PAUL QUINN EA: 28th April 2006

DAVIDS AND RUGBY CEMENT!
WHO IS TO BLAME?
* DAVID HUDSON - EA "responsible"  for construction of works, IPC etc  since 1996.
* DAVID SHELDON - EA's writer of IPPC Permit, and several witness statements.
* DAVID ELVIN - EA's QC.
* DAVID EVANS - Rugby Cement's expert: "only harmless steam and CO2 come out of stack!"
* DAVID EDWARDS - began  Rugby case on legal aid, but had to drop out due stress and ill health.
* DAVID WOLFE - Matrix Chambers.

LANDMARK CHAMBERS LAUNCH CENTRE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL LAW?

Do these people think they can flit from defendant client to defendant client and then promote themselves as campaigners? I understand those barristers who don't get personally involved in the issues, and simply act as advocates, but I'm not clear how you can have it both ways???

"LANDMARK CHAMBERS Centre for Environmental Law will create a forum for discussion and commentary on all matters relating to environmental law, drawing on the expertise of chambers' practitioners and some of the most highly respected legal academics in the UK and overseas. The Centre will aim to keep legal practitioners abreast of developments in this fast moving area of law."

ACADEMIC PANEL: will draw on the expertise of leading thinkers in the field, currently comprises of Prof. Malcolm Grant, President & Provost of University College London, and one of the leading environmental lawyers and academics in the country, Dr Liz Fisher, Dr Bettina Lange and Eloise Scotford of Oxford University, Professor Robert Lee of Cardiff University, Cinnamon Carlarne of the University of South Carolina, USA and Richard Moules of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge University.

EXECUTIVE TEAM: comprising members of Landmark Chambers of whom the key representatives are barristers DAVID ELVIN QC(Chairman), James Maurici and Gwion Lewis and Joanna Poulton, Chambers Chief Executive.

"Environmental issues are a major concern today and the development of environmental law is one of the key mechanisms in securing the management of climate change, limiting and controlling pollution, managing sustainable development and in protecting our natural heritage. Our purpose in bringing together experienced academic and practicing lawyers is to stimulate legal thinking and debate, to consider the environmental issues facing us, and to make a contribution to the continuing development of this important area of modern law."

RDF IN CEMENT KILNS?
"Some danger and problems could arise as far as heavy metals are concerned, chiefly the more volatile ones due to their presence in the substituted fuels." "The mass fluxes of micro-pollutants and their origin are not yet completely understood and must be further examined." "It is evident that the use of alternative fuels can strongly worsen the emission of heavy metals pushing  them DANGEROUSLY towards  the limits." Which is WHY CEMENT PLANTS ARE NEVER BUILT IN TOWNS!
The EU reports on the negative impacts of waste burning in kilns show that although they can claim overall reduction in nitrous oxide emissions, local residents can suffer from the increases of mercury, lead and cadmium, plus PAH/PCBs and dioxin in the air.