Former foes join forces

Years of legal head-banging have turned to happy co-operation between two former environmental foes. Cement producer Lafarge Canada Inc. and the environmental group Lake Ontario Waterkeeper recently agreed on a plan to prevent toxic kiln dust from leaching into Bath Creek. Over the next three years, the company will spread a thick plastic membrane over its five-hectare landfill site and cover it with clay at a cost of more than $4 million. “It’s a good agreement,” said Waterkeeper president Mark Mattson. “Lafarge was very cooperative.” The effort goes back to 2006, when Waterkeeper raised opposition to a plan by Lafarge to burn tires and other waste products at its plant at Bath, on Lake Ontario. In the course of conducting its research, Waterkeeper discovered the aging landfill, opened in 1973, was being operated with an expired permit. At the time, Waterkeeper was concerned that burning additional materials would exacerbate the problem by increasing the toxicity of the waste. Lafarge was dumping more than 28,000 tonnes of kiln dust a year into the site. “This was going to be part of the hearing as well,” said Mattson. “We still had this new knowledge about the landfill and we pursued it.” Company public affairs manager Robert Cumming said kiln dust is no longer an issue at the Bath plant. Lafarge recently developed a process whose byproducts are re-used so there is no more dumping. More…

News selected by Covalence | Country: Canada | Company: Lafarge | Source: The Whig