§ Mr. Peter AinsworthTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many tests have been carried out by the Environment Agency on dioxin emissions at the Ribblesdale plant of Castle Cement in the past 12 months; and if she will publish the findings. [18543]
§ Margaret Beckett[holding answer 27 November 2001]: Since November 2000 the Environment Agency has conducted three sets of dioxin tests on the kilns at Castle Cement's Ribblesdale plant. The individual sample results are shown in the table. The dioxin limit in the site's Integrated Pollution Control (IPC) permit is 0.8 ng/in3.
Sample point Date sample taken Results ng/m3 dioxin Stack from kilns 5 and 6 14–15 February 2001 2.887 and 1.628 Kiln 7 1–2 May 2001 0.001 and 0.001 Stack from kilns 5 and 6 16–17 August 2001 0.212 and 0.295 Kiln 5a 16 August 2001 0.053 Kiln 5b 16 August 2001 0.216 Kiln 6 17 August 2001 0.200 Full details of these results are available on the agency's public registers, at the local Environment Agency office (Richard Fairclough House, 50 Knutsford Road, Warrington, WA4 1HG) and at the Ribble Valley borough council's offices.
The agency, in accordance with its enforcement policy, has investigated the breach of the emissions limit that occurred at the stack from kilns 5 and 6 on 14–15 February 2001 and a warning letter has been issued to Castle Cement. Over the period to August 2001, I understand that the company undertook its own exploration of emissions from the stack, including sampling. Following the February breach, the agency commissioned work modelling the likely fate of dioxins in the environment and the human food chain. This concluded that even under the worst conditions, individuals in the community exposed to the levels found during the breach of the limit would be most unlikely to exceed the World Health Organisation guideline intake. However, the agency will not accept any re-occurrence of the elevated levels found in February 2001.