US families sue Aggregate Industries’ parent company over payments to IS

Last year, Aggregate Industries’ parent company, Holcim, agreed to pay $778 million after its Lafarge subsidiary pleaded guilty to US charges of supporting Islamic State, becoming the first company in American history to be convicted of bribing a foreign terrorist organisation. 

Previous posts covering the company’s involvement in Syria can be found here.  

As we posted earlier this year: 

Holcim – previously LafargeHolcim, the parent company of Aggregate Industries, which was formed after a "merger of equals" in 2015 between Swiss-based Holcim and French-based Lafarge – will be the ultimate beneficiary of the quarry at Straitgate Farm.   

The company changed its name in 2021, no doubt because of a number of controversies. One controversy – Lafarge’s previous support for terrorists in Syria – refuses to go away. 

This week, Reuters announced: 

Relations of a U.S. aid worker and American soldiers - all killed or injured by Islamic State and Al-Nusra Front - have lodged a legal claim against cement maker Lafarge over payments the French company made to extremist groups.

Court documents state: 

Defendants' payments aided the terrorist attacks that targeted plaintiffs and their family members...

Lafarge's support for ISIS and ANF ran deep. It operated a lucrative cement plant in northern Syria, and it decided that bribing Syrian terrorists offered the best way to protect its profits from the plant.

American families of IS victims sue cement maker Lafarge over Syria payments https://t.co/lQoukJQpX8 pic.twitter.com/omTmMFxaDw

— Reuters (@Reuters) July 28, 2023

Major incident closes B3174 Exeter Road

A major incident has occurred on the B3174 Exeter Road into Ottery St Mary. 

A Sainsbury’s lorry lies burning in the ditch near Straitgate Farm this morning, forced off the road after passing a builders merchant HGV travelling in the opposite direction. 

Clearly, as we have said countless times before, there is insufficient width on parts of this road – the main road into and out of Ottery St Mary – for HGVs to comfortably pass each other. 

It again shows why Aggregate Industries’ scheme to quarry Straitgate Farm and put another 200 HGV movements a day on this stretch of road is both nonsensical and dangerous. 

This incident occurred in the same location as the permitted cattle crossing, which is also required as part of the company's plans.

Update for Exeter Road Ottery St Mary. The road will be closed for Several more hours. Please follow diversions and allow extra time for your journey. https://t.co/wwV6psnWjn

— Devon Alert (@DevonAlert) July 25, 2023

DevonLive report: "Sainsbury's lorry destroyed by huge fire with Devon road to remain shut for hours. Reports suggest the lorry was forced off the road by another oncoming HGV."

Lorry catches fire after leaving road https://t.co/2IOLfJahGe

— Spotlight (@BBCSpotlight) July 25, 2023

Aggregate Industries’ Straitgate update for June

Aggregate Industries has provided the following update for the work the company carried out in June, in relation to its permission to quarry Straitgate Farm: 

In June the decision was taken to write a third time to owners of private water supplies who had not yet signed up to the monitoring scheme to give them a further chance to be part of the scheme. People who have already signed up were contacted to advise that visits to be undertaken as part of the preparation of the monitoring scheme would take place in the Autumn and that we would be in touch nearer the time. 

Other works related to the permission for the importation of material into Hillhead Quarry were that the widening of Clay Lane was completed and this is now open to two way traffic.