HC Deb 20 December 1994 vol 251 cc1062-3W
Mr. Home Robertson

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the use of recycled liquid fuel at the Blue Circle cement works at Dunbar; and what assessment he has made of(a) the safety of the transport and storage of this fuel and (b) the level and nature of any pollution arising from the use of this fuel.

Sir Hector Monro

[holding answer 14 December 1994]: During the determination of the application for an authorisation under integrated pollution control in respect of the Blue Circle cement works at Dunbar, Her Majesty's industrial pollution inspectorate gave careful consideration to the environmental implications of burning recycled liquid fuels in part replacement of the normal kiln fuels. In terms of emissions of sulphur dioxide the use was beneficial, but in order to ensure that the impact of burning chlorinated material was negligible, the authorisation included conditions that placed stringent limits on the content of chlorine, polychlorinated biphenyls and pentachlorophenol in all recovered fuels. A series of tests were undertaken by the company to a protocol agreed with HMIPI and emissions of dioxins and furans, the principal concern, were shown to be below the 1 ngm-3 limit set in the draft European Union directive on the incineration of hazardous waste.

Monitoring of incoming fuel has shown that all batches comply with the conditions of authorisation and relevant data have been placed on the public register. Current usage corresponds to no more than 3 per cent. of the total thermal input to the kiln.

HMIPI has work in hand to ensure that test protocols for the estimation of dioxins and furans in environmental media are optimised and Blue Circle is included in the inspectorate's audit programme for 1995–96.

As regards the safety of these materials during transport and storage, the responsibility for these issues lies with the Department of Transport and the Health and Safety Executive. I have asked both the Department and the Executive to write to the hon. Member in due course.