Straitgate Action Group
In 1965, Straitgate Farm near Ottery St Mary in Devon was bought by ECC Quarries in the hope it would yield 20 million tonnes of sand & gravel. In 2001, Straitgate Action Group was formed to oppose the development and its potential harm to water supplies, ancient wetland habitats, protected species and much more. In 2023, Aggregate Industries – owned by Swiss giant Holcim – was finally granted permission to quarry just 1 million tonnes following a public inquiry. This blog records the story.
Saturday 16 March 2024
Wettest 18 months on record – and still no groundwater monitoring at Straitgate
Friday 15 March 2024
Where would we be without geologists?
Extraction of up to 1.5 million tonnes of as raised sand and gravel, restoration to agricultural land together with temporary change of use of a residential dwelling to a quarry office/welfare facility
At [nearby] Marshbroadmoor, the original planning application promised 1.1 million tonnes, but, due to 'geological faulting', no more than 200,000 tonnes ever came out.
...no aggregates operator would consider (for example) trying to develop a sand and gravel deposit of less than one million tonnes. We have clients who have sites which have been turned down on this basis. The planning and development costs are considered too great on a per tonne basis.
There is a geologist, geophysicist, and a petroleum engineer in a room with their boss. The boss asks, "What’s 2 times 2?" The geologist thinks for a while says "well it’s probably more than 3 and less than 5". The geophysicist punches it into his calculator and answers that it’s 3.999999. The petroleum engineer gets up, locks the door, pulls the curtains, unplugs the phone and says, "What do you want it to be?"
The selected candidate will be instrumental in exploring, evaluating, and advising on the geologic aspects crucial to our extraction and production processes. This is a great opportunity for the new postholder to make their stamp within a team which has recently been heavily invested with technology.
Hedgerows
🌳 💦Hedgerows planted on steep contours & high densities can reduce runoff rates up to 50%, preventing flooding &improving the water quality of our rivers & streams. This is by improving hydrological soil processes: increasing percolation, filtration & evapotranspiration 🌳 💦 pic.twitter.com/85J6DZIO9g
— Hedgelink (@Hedgelink_UK) March 4, 2024
Devon quarry hosts UK’s first driverless dump truck
Even over the last 10 years there has been a dramatic fall in employee numbers in sand and gravel, with the UK Minerals Yearbook reporting over 8000 employees in 2001, but under 3000 in 2010. The HSE says the "industry has difficulty attracting and recruiting staff" and "anecdotal evidence suggests an ageing workforce".
The development of autonomous driving capability opens the door to a range of operational efficiency, safety, environmental, and employee benefits to underpin the sector going forward.
We envisage many benefits from having access to this sector-first autonomous ADT solution. The minerals and aggregates sector must embrace technology as a way of continually delivering improvements across our daily operations and cost base.
Sunday 3 March 2024
Battle to save pristine prehistoric rock art from vast new quarry in Norway
Battle to save pristine prehistoric rock art from vast new quarry in Norway https://t.co/Q0iqpr8W5E
— The Observer (@ObserverUK) March 2, 2024
One of the largest and most significant sites of rock art in northern Europe is under “catastrophic” threat.The Vingen carvings, in Vestland county, Norway, are spectacular, and include images of human skeletons and abstract and geometric designs. Even the hammer stones, the tools used by the ancient artists to create their compositions, have survived.Now archaeologists warn that the site is facing a “catastrophic” threat after a quarry, a shipping port and a crushing plant in the area of nearby Frøysjøen received planning permission in February.George Nash, a British archaeologist and specialist in prehistoric art at Liverpool University, told the Observer that Vingen was an internationally important site featuring more than 2,000 carved figures. He is “shocked the Norwegian authorities want to stick a dirty great quarry nearby”...Nash said: “Does the economic project outweigh the cultural heritage and the environment? The answer’s no. Once you’ve screwed up that landscape, that’s it. It’s screwed...
The rock art of #Vingen in #Norway and the surroundings should be protected in perpetuity for the benefit of all humanity. https://t.co/xwjFDhwVtD pic.twitter.com/VZBvtZ8aeG
— Bradshaw Foundation (@BradshawFND) February 29, 2024
Have you signed the petition to save the rock art of #Vingen in #Norway?? At risk of destruction due to a quarry. Please read about it and share widely! #SaveVingen https://t.co/8tHfec3ESp
— Dr Joana Valdez-Tullett (@JoanaValdez) February 13, 2024
Saturday 2 March 2024
Podcast digs into Brazil mining dam collapse – now UK’s largest class-action lawsuit
A gripping tale of the worst environmental disaster in Brazil’s history & the heroes fighting for justice, as told by the victims & @PogustGoodhead who are taking BHP & Vale, the owners of the mining dam, to the English courts.
— Liz Bonnin 💙 (@lizbonnin) February 21, 2024
My new podcast #DeadRiver drops Monday 26th Feb pic.twitter.com/46iqgARs2S
The disaster you could see from space: how a podcast went inside an eco catastrophe https://t.co/6Wod0eYJ9d
— The Guardian (@guardian) March 1, 2024
While it is billed as a true crime podcast, Dead River encompasses everything from environmental destruction to colonial history, family tragedy to perilous chase scenes, indigenous anthropology to the sheer brutal fact of what a river carpeted with a million dead fish looks like. It tells the story of Brazil’s worst environmental disaster. According to this podcast, the collapse of the Fundão tailings dam in 2015, which stored the toxic byproducts of iron ore mining, created more immediate devastation even than the continuous felling of the Amazonian rainforest for cattle ranching. It also killed 19 people, made hundreds homeless, and was so vast that it could be seen from space. More than eight years later, those responsible have still not been fully held to account. This has led to the largest class-action lawsuit ever held in the UK, with more than 700,000 plaintiffs seeking justice from Anglo-Australian mining giant BHP through the English and Welsh courts. The company denies the claims against it.
As a biologist and a conservationist who has learned over the years how deeply interconnected and interdependent all life on Earth is, I do wonder how we can be so nationalistic about it. To me, it’s so obvious that this matters to us. The natural world isn’t ours to exploit; it’s ours to protect so we can bloody well survive. For that reason alone we have a responsibility to understand and care about the damage we’re all causing as part of a system created by colonialism and capitalism. This isn’t a story about Brazil – it’s a story about all of us.
Aggregate Industries’ Straitgate update for February
Just to advise that we have been continuing to work on the schemes required by condition during February and hope soon to be in a position to start formally submitting these to the Council for approval, either towards the end of March or early April.We have also met with the Environment Agency to discuss the water monitoring scheme.
Tuesday 27 February 2024
Groundwater levels continue to rise at Straitgate
AI looks for new quarry manager to take on Straitgate can-of-worms
With an annual extraction of 350,000 tonnes and large projects in the planning phase, this position will offer you excellent growth in your career.
Govt announces partial reversal of EA cuts
Last year we set out measures to transform the way we regulate the water industry to uncover non-compliance and drive better performance. Today’s announcement builds on that. Campaign groups and the public want to see the Environment Agency better resourced to do what it does best, regulate for a better environment.
Wednesday 21 February 2024
Another borehole showing ZERO depth of available resource
Last February was one of the driest on record for England & Wales with many locations seeing less than 10% of normal rain.
— Dave Throup (@DaveThroup) February 18, 2024
This February will be one of the wettest, many places will record more than 200%.
Extremes driven by climate change and things will get more extreme. pic.twitter.com/3xPTqh8soj
Planning conditions mean AI must drill more water monitoring boreholes
Piezometer coverage across the site shall be, at any time, no less than the proposed one piezometer at each corner of each working sub-phase. Piezometers which are lost through quarry working shall be replaced within seven days. Continuous monitoring of all site piezometers (and interpolation between them) shall be used to ensure, during working, that the base level to which the quarry is worked is no closer to the measured groundwater level than 1 metre.
What exactly is a water body?
25. No water body shall be created within the site other than the approved weigh bridge lagoon.
To prevent the site becoming attractive to flocks of birds that may lead to an aviation hazard in the interests of public safety and in accordance with Policy M20 (Sustainable Design) of the Devon Minerals Plan.
Waterbody means any accumulation of water, surface or underground, natural or artificial, including rivers, streams, creeks, ditches, swales, lakes, ponds, marshes, wetlands, and ground water.
The term most often refers to oceans, seas, and lakes, but it includes smaller pools of water such as ponds, wetlands, or more rarely, puddles.
In the UK, we call everything up to 2 hectares [about 5 acres] a pond, but a lake that’s 2.1 hectares is really no different from a pond that’s 1.9 hectares. Down the bottom end, we call things down to 1 sq metre a pond, so then it’s below that we have puddles.
🔵 What is a puddle?
— ipbes (@IPBES) November 30, 2023
🟡 When does a puddle become a pond? Or, for that matter, a lake?
🔵 Can anything live in a puddle?
🟡 Can animals survive in puddles?
Discover 11 facts about these bodies of water with @guardian ⬇️https://t.co/MODLYxySaZ
Tuesday 13 February 2024
Another accident today on the B3174 Exeter Road by Straitgate Farm
Monday 12 February 2024
Water level at borehole PZ2017/03 rises to GROUND LEVEL
MPA: ‘Housing-led construction slump hits mineral product sales hard’
CONSTRUCTION SLUMP: #Housing-led construction slump hits mineral product sales hard - the latest MPA industry sales survey reveals a 2nd consecutive annual drop in volumes of heavy-side #buildingmaterials.
— Mineral Products Association (@MineralProduct) February 5, 2024
Read the full story: https://t.co/Rfpsto6MN7@BuildingNews @biztradegovuk pic.twitter.com/k8C6GhSTGE
Judge quashes Cornwall planning condition sign off
There are no special rules for the interpretation of planning conditions. The test is what a reasonable reader would understand the words to mean in the context of the other conditions and of the consent as a whole. This is an objective exercise in which the court will have regard to the natural and ordinary meaning of the relevant words, the overall purpose of the consent, any other conditions which cast light on the purpose of the relevant words, and common sense: DB Symmetry Ltd v Swindon Borough Council [2022] UKSC 33 at [66].
The condition can therefore be discharged as the [ecological plan] is deemed to be acceptable and in accordance with the general requirements set out in the originally submitted [ecological appraisal].
The authority interpreted condition 6 too narrowly, and consequently did not grapple with the noncompliance of the ecological plan in two important respects, namely the length of new hedge and direct connectivity with retained hedge... The decision on the application must be quashed and resubmitted to the authority for redetermination.
Judge quashes planning condition sign off over council’s failure to meet environmental appraisal requirements #planning #environment #development https://t.co/PVtbOZjlma.
— Planning Magazine (@PlanningMag) February 5, 2024
Tungsten West receives Draft Permit for Mineral Processing Facility
Tungsten West, the owner and operator of the Hemerdon tungsten and tin mine (the "Project" or "Hemerdon") in Southwest England, is pleased to announce that it has received a draft permit from the Environment Agency for the operation of the Mineral Processing Facility ("MPF") at Hemerdon. The draft permit is currently undergoing internal review to ensure all aspects are aligned with the operational requirements of the MPF. Following this review by the Company and the finalisation of the documentation, a public consultation will be held where the Environment Agency will identify that they are 'minded to' grant this permit. This is the final step before the Environment Agency can issue the permit. Throughout the consultation period, Tungsten West will remain committed to engaging with the Environment Agency and relevant stakeholders. The receipt of the draft permit represents a significant step in securing further financing for the Project and is the gateway for commencement of the updated Feasibility Study, which the Company anticipates will then lead into the main financing round.Neil Gawthorpe, CEO of Tungsten West, commented: "I am delighted to confirm receipt of the draft permit for the MPF, which represents a major step-forward in our goal of bringing Hemerdon back into production by the end of 2025, providing an ethical and sustainable domestic supply of critical minerals. I would like to thank the team at the Environment Agency for working closely with the Company and its consultants throughout 2023 to deliver this draft, and we look forward to progressing this process timeously through to a permit."
‘New Holcim boss faces long road to decarbonisation’
We are working on decarbonising Holcim, the construction industry, making our cities more sustainable and we are also driving circular construction.
New Holcim boss faces long road to decarbonisation https://t.co/o5ZaU0KOTo
— Financial Times (@FT) February 2, 2024
Some industry executives question Holcim’s commitment to decarbonising the “whole construction industry” when its M&A activity has not solved the notoriously “hard-to-abate” carbon footprint problem facing cement.Despite Gutovic’s efforts to refocus Holcim’s business, the negative impacts of the legacy business will be hard to avoid. In an ongoing legal case filed last year against Holcim in the Swiss canton of Zug, where it is headquartered, residents of the Indonesian island of Pulau Pari affected by rising flood waters demanded Holcim pay compensation for the costs of their water damage and flood protection measures.Holcim is responsible for 0.42 per cent of global fossil fuel and cement emissions in the atmosphere since the mid 18th century, according to a study by the Climate Accountability Institute research group.
Friday 2 February 2024
AI has been pulling the wool over everybody’s eyes – planning inspectors included
Results from routine quarterly monitoring in April 2018 identified groundwater levels in localised piezometers on the eastern extraction area boundary higher than those depicted by the existing MWWT contour plot. Consequently, Devon County Council has determined this to be a material matter in that it has requested that the effects of these results be assessed to determine the effects on the quantity of mineral resource. Its position is defined in the following extract from an email dated 1st August 2018 (S Penaluna, Devon CC) as a: “......need to know exactly which areas might be excluded for reasons of groundwater protection and these would need to be indicated on a plan.”
1. The extraction area, as shown on the Wood E&IS plan, remains unchanged...4. The change [in mineral resource], moreover, results in no area being “excluded for reasons of groundwater protection” but merely a localised effect on the depth of working in a localised (eastern) part of the site.
Prior to the commencement of any soil stripping on any phase of the development, a review of the Maximum Winter Water Table (MWWT) grid (being the hydrogeologically modelled surface of the maximum winter water table based on the highest recorded winter groundwater levels) shall be submitted to the Mineral Planning Authority for its approval in writing.
The MWWT will ultimately form the base of the workable deposit, and any variation will impact the potential resource.
25. No water body shall be created within the site other than the approved weigh bridge lagoon.
Two accidents today on the B3174 Exeter Road by Straitgate Farm
Aggregate Industries’ Straitgate update for January
We have now completed our initial visits to the owners of the private water supplies who are part of the monitoring scheme and confirm that it is our intention to start the 12 month of pre-commencement baseline monitoring in April this year. To confirm numbers we will be monitoring at 20 properties (note as previously this does not include Straitgate farm but we will be monitoring there). The reduction in number from that which I gave you previously is due to some properties not actually having a private water supply and also some that share the same supply.Regarding the boreholes on the Straitgate site itself there are 17 of those and please note that this number does not include PZ10 as that is included in the private water supply number given above.
I can confirm that this is something we are looking at as part of the monitoring scheme and I will be able to confirm locations in due course.
Monday 29 January 2024
Aggregate Industries’ parent Holcim announces break-up plan and new CEO
Switzerland’s Holcim plans separation of US cement business https://t.co/ZeJG8dg0ul
— Financial Times (@FT) January 27, 2024
The Swiss cement giant Holcim plans to spin off its North American business and list it in the US, as it seeks to unlock value and speed up growth for the unit.The Zug-based group also announced that the head of its European business, Miljan Gutovic, would take over as group chief executive from May. Outgoing chief Jan Jenisch will remain chair and lead the planned break-up…Makers of building materials such as Holcim have fallen out of favour with more climate-conscious investors in recent years, because of the carbon footprint of products such as cement and concrete. Holcim has sought to shift its business towards greener construction in recent years, and emphasised its role in "decarbonising building".Holcim will remain listed in Switzerland after the spin-off, with a presence across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.
Double blow for construction industry
Construction output forecast to fall 2.1% this year https://t.co/rJn4yl8Pi5 #constructionnews #construction #businessnews pic.twitter.com/v5y2beoXFz
— Construction Index (@TCIndex) January 29, 2024
According to the Construction Products Association (CPA) Winter Forecasts, published today, construction output is forecast to fall by 2.1% this year...Six months ago the CPA was forecasting 0.7% growth for UK construction output in 2024. Three months ago, it changed this to a 0.3% contraction. That it is now forecasting a 2.1% contraction represents a significant further deterioration in sentiment.
A dozen construction firms going bust every day https://t.co/3xzgw8zjGj
— Construction Enquirer (@ConstructionEnq) January 29, 2024
Thursday 25 January 2024
AI’s ponding problems at Hillhead worsen – attracting ducks & gulls too
25. No water body shall be created within the site other than the approved weigh bridge lagoon.
This condition... is clear and unambiguous. It is not limited by the size or duration of any water body – large or small, permanent or temporary.
4.16 ...The water is ponding in this Phase and the operator would like to direct this water to Houndaller Pond, north of the farmhouse, in order to complete restoration. Therefore, a non-material amendment was submitted in order to alter the phasing of working. The has resulted in the operator entering the western end of Phase 8 to allow water to move from Phase 6, into Phase 7 and 8 temporarily whilst restoration is under way. Originally, working in Phase 8 was to commence at the eastern end. Alterations to allow water to enter Houndaller Pond will need to be subject to a full application.4.17 Despite the ponding, work has begun on restoring Phase 6 at the eastern end to the final restoration levels. It is anticipated this will be completed in 2025, however, it is understood the ponding is slowing this down...
HVO – where on earth will all the used cooking oil come from?
Prior to the export of any sand or gravel from the site, a scheme which ensures that all heavy goods vehicles entering and leaving the site, together with all plant and equipment located within the site, use hydrotreated vegetable oil fuel shall be submitted to and approved in writing by the Mineral Planning Authority. The scheme shall include details of how the use of hydrotreated vegetable oil fuel will be monitored to secure compliance with this condition. All heavy goods vehicles and plant shall be used in accordance with the approved scheme.
How this would be done is anybody’s guess, since the company does not own its own fleet of trucks and HVO is not available on garage forecourts – as Devon County Council pointed out. How this would be monitored and policed is another issue – as the Council also acknowledged.
China supplies over a third (34%) of Europe’s UCO imports while almost a fifth (19%) comes from major palm oil producers Malaysia and Indonesia combined. Within a decade the volume Europe needs could double to 6 million tonnes as EU countries strive to meet targets for renewable fuels in transport, the study finds. This in turn could trigger palm oil being used to replace cooking oil in exporting countries while also incentivising fraud (mixing virgin oil).
HVO is fully compatible with petroleum diesel and can also be upgraded for use as ‘Sustainable Aviation Fuel’ (SAF).
Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary: ‘There isn’t enough cooking oil in the world to power one day of green aviation’ https://t.co/eyVEEypvsw
— The Observer (@ObserverUK) December 26, 2023
They’re a wheeze. Unless governments get in behind the production and sourcing of sustainable aviation fuels – and they’re only going to come from, ultimately, the oil majors, the only ones who are going to make them – I don’t see where we will get the supply in the volumes we need. You want everybody running around collecting fucking cooking oil? There isn’t enough cooking oil in the world to power more than one day’s aviation.
But we have no idea that they’ll be able to make those kinds of volumes.
The latest addition to our fleet - a HVO fuelled cement tanker. In a UK first we've teamed up with Lomas Distribution to add the vehicle to our fleet. HVO produces up to 90 per cent less greenhouse has emissions than mineral diesel https://t.co/OOQbHtfVBa pic.twitter.com/GdU3Fo1qm2
— Aggregate Industries (@AggregateUK) June 16, 2023
At our Bardon Hill Quarry we are replacing diesel with HVO on equipment such as generators, compressors and crushing and screening plant. All of our HVO is traceable to source under the International Sustainability & Carbon Certification Scheme, does not result in any deforestation and will save an estimated 3,301 tonnes of CO2e at Bardon Hill. The savings from this, together with our suspended conveyor system saves enough carbon annually equivalent to driving a car 26,000 miles.
We are deeply concerned that HVO is being used and promoted in ever more sectors, from aviation fuels to cars and now as a heating fuel, too. While a limited amount of HVO can be made from genuine waste products such as used cooking oil, such waste products are in very short supply and come nowhere near meeting current HVO demand... EU and UK biofuel sustainability and greenhouse gas standards still permit biofuels from palm oil and soy to count towards renewable energy targets, and they are based on a flawed greenhouse gas methodology which ignores the greatest source of emissions – indirect land use change.