Aggregate Industries is confident it can control the dust arising from any quarry operation at Straitgate:
The potential for fugitive dust emissions from the proposed excavation of sand and gravel at Straitgate Farm is minimal...
It’s a pretty meaningless statement; satisfying a tick-box exercise, using an off-the-shelf report, the bulk of which has been wheeled out countless times before.
But for all the rhetoric, AI has been failing to control dust emissions from its quarries this summer, not just at its Bardon Hill "super quarry" in Leicestershire, but also at Westleigh Quarry in Devon.
Westleigh is currently the subject of a planning application to vary the approved working scheme to extract an additional 600,000 tonnes; we posted about this in May, how:
Objections to application DCC/4007/2017 to vary the working scheme at Westleigh Quarry tell a story of dust inside and outside homes, of noise, of blasting vibration, of HGV problems on unsuitable roads, of damage to roads going un-repaired, of rules continuously being broken, of a complaints system that doesn't work, even of a "Section 106 condition from the 1997 Application [that] remains unfulfilled".
Since then, AI’s dust problems at Westleigh have got worse. That’s embarrassing for AI, at a time when the company is trying to win permission for another 600,000 tonnes. AI’s dust consultants were wheeled in again, but they couldn’t use an off-the-shelf response this time, reckoning that:
As you are aware, after conclusion of the monitoring, complaints were received regarding high levels of dust deposition at residential properties in Westleigh Village. This corresponded with the extensive period of hot and dry weather combined with northerly winds creating uncharacteristic conditions for this time of year. It has been acknowledged that fugitive emissions from the quarry were responsible and this resulted in action being taken by the quarry to implement additional dust mitigation measures.
Bravo. But no apology, of course, for the health impact on local residents.
Since then, Public Health England has responded to new information provided for the application:
We note that due to the increasing number of dust complaints relating to the quarry since May 2018, the applicant has undertaken further dust monitoring, which remains ongoing. In addition, improved dust control measures have been incorporated into the site management plans to mitigate fugitive emissions of dust off-site.
We recommend that the Local Authority should ensure that the enhanced dust control measures are adequate prior to issuing any planning permission.
