HC Deb 31 January 1996 vol 270 cc785-6W
Mr. Gordon Prentice

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what communication he has had with Lancashire county council concerning the health effects experienced by staff of the National Physical Laboratory when monitoring air quality at Moorland school and Waddington and West Bradford primary school in connection with the burning of cemfuel by Castle Cement. [12211]

Mr. Clappison

Lancashire county council has been sent a copy of the full report from the National Physical Laboratory. I have received no comments.

Mr. Prentice

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many National Physical Laboratory staff experienced(a) unpleasant odours, (b) respiratory effects and (c) eye or throat irritation during the air monitoring exercise at Castle Cement's Ribblesdale works between 7 August and 1 September 1995. [12213]

Mr. Clappison

Odour was detected by NPL staff on 10 occasions even though the measured sulphur dioxide levels were far below the generally accepted odour threshold. Respiratory effects and eye or throat irritation were each recorded on three occasions. On two of the occasions, respiratory effects were reported by one individual who is an asthma sufferer.

The threshold guide value for sulphur dioxide, published by the expert panel on air quality standards, at which the health of some people could be affected, was never breached during the four weeks of monitoring.

Mr. Prentice

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when authorisation was given for the burning of cemfuel by Castle Cement at Clitheroe; what account was taken of potential problems arising from plume grounding in granting authorisation, and what technical solutions have been identified. [12013]

Mr. Clappison

Castle Cement, Clitheroe had started burning cemfuel in 1992 under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. In 1993, cement manufacture came under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and the Clitheroe authorisation was continued. Plume grounding had not been identified as a problem at that time.

A variation to Castle Cement's authorisation, issued on 23 January 1996 requires Castle Cement to have agreed, with Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution proposals for resolution of the plume grounding problem by 30 April 1996.

Mr. Prentice

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what caused the odour detected by staff of the National Physical Laboratory during the air quality monitoring at Castle Cement's Ribblesdale works at Clitheroe during the period 7 August to 1 September 1995. [12214]

Mr. Clappison

The detection of odour by the staff from the National Physical Laboratory was correlated with concentrations of sulphur dioxide above 50ppb. However, this is significantly below the generally recognised odour detection threshold. It was not possible to identify any one compound responsible for the odour.

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