‘Tyre wear particles now the leading cause of traffic pollution’

Aggregate Industries claims to be:

... a progressive, future-facing business. A company that is intrinsically sustainable - trusted and respected by stakeholders and the communities in which we operate.

Fine words, but in the real world the company's scheme at Straitgate Farm will see as-dug aggregate hauled 23 miles between quarry face and processing plant, more than any other UK quarry operation, some 2.5 million HGV miles in all. 

So, unless Aggregate Industries' HGVs magically run without tyres, Devon communities will pay the price.

Health impact of tyre particles causing ‘increasing concern’, say scientists https://t.co/8zMT8McSeq

— The Guardian (@guardian) February 23, 2023

The warning follows UK government data that shows significantly more tiny pollution particles now come from tyre erosion than are emitted from vehicle exhausts. The report estimates 52% of all the small particle pollution from road transport came from tyre and brake wear in 2021, plus a further 24% from abrasion of roads and their paint markings. Just 15% of the emissions came from the exhausts of cars and a further 10% from the exhausts of vans and HGVs.

Forget Dieselgate — a bigger emissions problem hides in plain sight https://t.co/eKCHnRdThJ

— Financial Times (@FT) October 30, 2023

As we drive, our tyres wear down and release invisible particles that we inhale and ultimately ingest. Strikingly, the rate of release of these particles is almost 2,000 times greater than the mass of particles from a modern exhaust pipe. It looks likely, then, that these apparently mundane yet economically vital and technically sophisticated products are a source of pollution that will make Dieselgate — the exhaust emissions cheating scandal of 2015 — look minor. The difference? No rules are being broken, yet current US and EU polices promoting battery electric vehicles through subsidies are set to make the problem worse.

River Yealm polluted again

In November 2020, we posted Devon quarry operator pollutes River Yealm. The pollution incident was investigated by an environment officer, who "traced it back to a quarry operation further up the catchment." The Environment Agency said "rainfall had caused contaminated run-off to escape the containment area of a quarry-related operation and enter the river." 

Quarry turns River Yealm white https://t.co/meBm58Fjrf pic.twitter.com/6nLrtzTPDU

— Spotlight (@BBCSpotlight) November 17, 2020

Today, just two years later, it was reported that the River Yealm has been polluted again:

 

So frustrating to see another likely china clay spill on this important South Hams river. Given the pressures our rivers are under this is the last thing we needs and undoes lots of great restorative work... https://t.co/q9pgWPSwCA

— Laurence Couldrick (@LaurenceWRT) December 5, 2022

EDIT 6.12.22 

The source of pollution has now been identified. More than 12 miles of waterways are affected:

The Environment Agency (EA) said it was trying to stop the contaminant being discharged in the River Piall, which flows into the River Yealm, in the South Hams. 

The EA declined to reveal the source of the pollution due to possible enforcement action.

Holcim cement plant to pay $100K in settlement over air pollution violations

The Alabama Department of Environmental Management says it received multiple citizen complaints and reports of inspectors seeing large clouds of dust coming from Holcim's Theodore facility over several months. https://t.co/2faiZz6Hp4

— AL.com (@aldotcom) November 19, 2022

EA labelled ‘irresponsible’ after appealing landmark human rights ruling

If you thought the Environment Agency existed "to create better places for people and wildlife, and support sustainable development", think again. After allowing the sewage scandal, now this: 

Lawyers have accused the EA of 'wasting time and taxpayers money' after the regulator lodged an appeal against a High Court ruling, which found that it had failed to protect the life of a five-year-old child in its regulation of the Walleys Quarryhttps://t.co/G5blQe2tz4

— ENDS Report (@TheENDSReport) November 8, 2021

Lawyers have accused the Environment Agency of 'wasting time and taxpayers money' after the regulator lodged an appeal against a High Court ruling, which found that it had failed to protect the life of a five-year-old child in its regulation of the Walleys Quarry landfill in Newcastle-under-Lyme. 

During the original hearing in September, Dr Ian Sinha from Alder Hey hospital said that unless Mathew Richards, who was born with bronchopulmonary dysplasia, had access to clean air his lungs will not recover and continued exposure to Hydrogen Sulphide (H2S) emissions from the landfill site will mean that Mathew's life expectancy will inevitably be shortened.” 

The High Court ruled that the agency needed to do more to protect the local population as early as possible and that all measures must be “taken to reduce off-site odours as early as possible so that the WHO half hour guideline (5ppb) [five parts per billion] is met, addressing the undesirable current effects on people’s well-being and the symptoms they are experiencing”. 

It also said that from January 2022 off-site H2S should be reduced to below the US Environmental Protection Agency reference concentration of 1ppb. 

However, the EA was granted permission to appeal the ruling at the end of October. In its grounds for appeal, the EA argues that the judge presiding on the case “erred in deciding that judicial intervention was either justified or appropriate”. 

The EA argued that as the specialist statutory regulator, it was for itself and “not for the court, to evaluate and to determine the further action needed in order to restore gas emission levels at and in the locality of Walleys Quarry to acceptable levels and within an acceptable timescale”. 

The EA also argued that it was not found to have breached or to be breaching “positive obligation and [that there was] therefore neither a justification nor a requirement for a remedy”.  

Matthew Richard’s solicitor Rebekah Carrier, of Hopkin Murray Beskine, told ENDS that it was “astonishing” that the EA “had made extensive submissions to the Court of Appeal without even mentioning the fact that the pollution from the site is shortening Mathew’s life”.  

“Rather than waste time and public money on an academic appeal the EA should be putting their efforts into making the area safe.” 

Carrier said her legal team would “be drawing the Court of Appeal’s attention to the irresponsible failure of the EA to even mention the risk to Mathew’s health in its submissions to the court and asking the Court of Appeal to give the appeal the short shrift it deserves”.  

The Court of Appeal hearing is expected to take place before Christmas.

‘Newspaper closures open door to corporate crime’

The new paper from @HarvardHBS professor Jonas Heese confirms that the press serves as a watchdog and keeps businesses in check https://t.co/K0xbCmygpo

— Harvard University (@Harvard) October 13, 2021

In the US, "a study of misbehavior among publicly traded companies illustrates the critical watchdog role that newspapers play, and the problems that arise when publications go out of business", according to research by Harvard Business School Professor Jonas Heese. 

When local newspapers shutter, some businesses evidently treat the lack of press coverage as permission to act badly and end up committing more illegal violations, including pollution, workplace safety infractions, and financial fraud, according to Heese’s research. 

According to Professor Heese:

If you can do whatever you want and no one is looking, you’re more likely or more willing to engage in fraud. If the local media doesn’t make a fuss, you can pay the penalty to regulators without it affecting your reputation.

For his research, Professor Heese relied on Violation Tracker, "the first wide-ranging database on corporate misconduct" which traces violations and penalties from 44 federal regulatory agencies. 

Here's the Violation Tracker entry for LafargeHolcim – the parent company of Aggregate Industries. Penalties since 2000 in the US alone total $281,993,283 at the time of writing. 

Other violations around the world can be found here.

Fortunately in East Devon, the local press continues to survive. A search of the Sidmouth Herald archive shows the newspaper has followed the Straitgate debacle since 2011.

Around the globe, @LafargeHolcim is accused of polluting waterways and other forms of pollution. In the US alone, Lafarge has paid $279 million in penalties since 2000 (cc @GoodJobsFirst) https://t.co/odVMUN3Mjv

— CleanWaves (@CleanWaves3) May 3, 2021

For years, @LafargeHolcim violated the law and leaked toxic chemicals into tributaries of the Hudson River.

As a result of their illegal actions, we recovered $850,000 and we're forcing Holcim to take measures to prevent any future environmental harm.https://t.co/pE6xAdvwcn

— NY AG James (@NewYorkStateAG) April 30, 2021

‘HS2 loses vast amounts of highly polluting clay slurry in aquifer’

Accidents happen. 

That's why a precautionary approach must always be taken when dealing with groundwater and aquifers.

HS2 loses large amount of potentially highly polluting bentonite into the chalk aquifer and the @EnvAgency says blah, blah, blah.

“We take the protection of groundwater and watercourses – including chalk streams – very seriously, as...........",https://t.co/fUSfnLytR3

— Feargal Sharkey (@Feargal_Sharkey) September 10, 2021

HS2 has lost vast amounts of a potentially highly polluting substance in an aquifer during the construction of the high-speed rail link, it has emerged. 

Environmental campaigners have raised concerns about the impact of this on the water supply. 

The company lost 1,600 cubic metres of clay slurry known as bentonite, which is used in construction work, in the last few months of last year. 

A Network Rail environmental guide to bentonite says that as a liquid it is highly polluting. “If it enters watercourses or drains it can cause damage to plants and animals,” the guidance says.

HS2’s development partner Align has produced a report analysing the impact of this loss on the aquifer on the site where works are being carried out, north of Chalfont St Peter in Buckinghamshire. 

The lost bentonite is thought to be sitting in the fractures and fissures around the sides of the aquifer.

Align’s own report states that while no lasting damage is thought to have been done by this loss, at two monitoring boreholes there has been "significant effects on pH, turbidity and other water quality parameters"…. 

An Environment Agency spokesperson said: "We take the protection of groundwater and watercourses – including chalk streams – very seriously, as well as the protection of the wildlife and ecosystems that rely on them."

"The agency is working closely with HS2, their contractors, local community groups, the water industry, and local authorities to ensure the environment is protected throughout the project."

Aquifer pollution ‘seen on a routine quarry site visit’

More than 100 people rely on the aquifer at Straitgate Farm for their drinking water. Aggregate Industries' plans to quarry the site leave no margin for error, no margin for climate change, no margin for safety, no margin for pollution above the maximum water table – despite warnings from one of the UK's top experts in hydrogeology. What could possibly go wrong?

Not what you want to see leaking into a principal #aquifer #PermoTriassicSandstone! Fuel storage tank was seen on a routine quarry site visit & clearly petrol contents have soaked into #sandstone bedrock which are highly permeable & used for #DrinkingWater #GroundwaterProtection pic.twitter.com/BYBBjQYAKd

— Geoscience EnvAgency (@GeoscienceEA) September 16, 2019

‘How Holcim pollutes the air in Serbia with impunity’

The ultimate beneficiary of any quarrying at Straitgate Farm would be LafargeHolcim – the parent company of Aggregate Industries, now rebadged Holcim – the company that is the subject of this article:

 

En Serbie, la multinationale 🇨🇭 @LafargeHolcim exploite une cimenterie dont les émissions nocives pour la santé violent en toute impunité les limites légales. Avec son enquête, Milorad Ivanović @BIRN_Network remporte notre #InvestigationAward 2020.https://t.co/mPhViYorjn

— Public Eye (@PublicEyeSuisse) July 2, 2021

In the small town of Beočin, in northern Serbia, the Swiss group Holcim operates a cement plant. In 2019, a state inspection found that the plant's harmful emissions massively exceeded legal limits. But the report has been kept in the shadows and, to date, no proceedings have been initiated. For those affected on the spot, this impunity comes as no surprise. Milorad Ivanović, Serbia, June 30, 2021 

“We can't breathe here anymore,” complains Jovan Ignjatović, wiping a large layer of dust off the table. “This is what has accumulated since yesterday,” he explains. His house is right in front of the cement factory. The place is shrouded in a thick cloud of smoke. People here say it is a dangerous poison; factory management responds that it is just harmless water vapor. 

Some 7000 people now live in Beočin. This small industrial town is located at the foot of the Fruška gora mountain range, an hour and a half by car from the capital Belgrade. The cement plant was acquired in 2002 by the French group Lafarge, which merged with Holcim in 2015 to form Lafarge Holcim. As announced last May, the world's largest producer of building materials has now chosen Holcim Ltd. as its sole name, and moved its headquarters to the tax haven of Zug. 

Before its takeover by Lafarge, the Beočin cement plant was already one of the biggest polluters in the former Yugoslavia, which was dissolved in 2008. But the situation worsened shortly after this takeover, when the management decided to no longer operate its ovens run on natural gas, but with petroleum coke, a by-product of the transformation of crude oil that burns at very high temperatures. Cheaper than natural gas but much dirtier, this refinery waste produces large amounts of microparticles, sulfur dioxide and soot. 

Click here to read more. 

Aggregate Industries to pay $1.45 million to settle asphalt emissions claim

Devon County Council recently granted Aggregate Industries permission to build a 27m high asphalt plant at Hillhead on an elevated position overlooking the Culm Valley. The decision went against the advice of the Council’s Landscape Officer who advised that the application was "contrary to relevant landscape policies [providing] grounds for refusal". 

Concerns about the impact of air quality and noxious odours on nearby residents and school children were dismissed, being left to the Environment Agency to deal with: 

Control over emissions and odours would be addressed through an Environmental Permit that would be required from the Environment Agency. 

Of course, that’s the same Environment Agency that regulates sites like this:

 

150-200 protestors unhappy about the smell coming from Walleys Quarry landfill walking into Newcastle. pic.twitter.com/bITLeOxiiD

— Sophie Calvert (@SOPH_C_) April 26, 2021

Meanwhile, on the other side of the pond, Aggregate Industries has just agreed to pay $1.45 million to settle environmental violations in connection with this asphalt plant in Massachusetts.

According to the Office of Attorney General Maura Healey: 

"This company recklessly ignored the requirements of our environmental protection laws and the health and wellbeing of its neighbors when it continued to illegally manufacture asphalt and emit odors that deeply disrupted the surrounding community. My office will continue to work with our state partners to hold accountable those who endanger our communities and the environment for their own benefit."

According to the AG’s complaint, the odors were detectable up to at least three miles from the plant. The complaint also alleges that Aggregate told the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) that it had stopped producing the crumb rubber asphalt during MassDEP’s initial investigation, but actually continued producing the crumb rubber asphalt for months. 

Parent company LafargeHolcim has been settling environmental violations too:

 

For years, @LafargeHolcim violated the law and leaked toxic chemicals into tributaries of the Hudson River.

As a result of their illegal actions, we recovered $850,000 and we're forcing Holcim to take measures to prevent any future environmental harm.https://t.co/pE6xAdvwcn

— NY AG James (@NewYorkStateAG) April 30, 2021

Federal and state officials on Thursday said they reached a settlement regarding alleged water quality violations at the LaFarge Holcim cement plant in which leachate was reportedly flowing into the Hudson River. Holcim agreed to pay an $850,000 civil penalty and to comply with the rules set forth in its discharge permit going forward, said Antoinette Bacon, acting U.S Attorney for the Northern District of New York. 

Oh the difference – between the reality and the greenwash:

 

Around the globe, @LafargeHolcim is accused of polluting waterways and other forms of pollution. In the US alone, Lafarge has paid $279 million in penalties since 2000 (cc @GoodJobsFirst) https://t.co/odVMUN3Mjv

— CleanWaves (@CleanWaves3) May 3, 2021

Amazing greenwashing. This post is really cringe when you know how much Lafarge Holcim is polluting in countries in development such as Cameroun,India or Brasil. You don't give a fuxk about environment just about money.

— The crypto Nabab. LCX for Saudi Oil Money gains (@teegee40782885) April 30, 2021

Judging by this, LafargeHolcim couldn’t give a toss about climate change

When LafargeHolcim – the parent of Aggregate Industries – shouts "The time for climate action is now!" it's obviously aimed at others, not itself:

US: The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has approved a request by Holcim US to use more petcoke at its integrated Midlothian plant. Local health and environmental campaigners had hoped to challenge the decision at a meeting in late March 2021, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram newspaper. The changes will enable the company, part of Switzerland-based LafargeHolcim, to more than double the plant’s carbon monoxide (CO) emissions to 7000t/yr. 35 local residents submitted requests for a hearing to query the application. Holcim US was identified from state data as the leading emitter of industrial pollutants in North Texas in 2019.

More than a year of protests from Midlothian activists came down to a few minutes of discussion among state officials. The result was not what residents fighting cement pollution were hoping for. For @startelegram + @Report4America: https://t.co/0XcSD4gAZw

— Haley Samsel (@haley_samsel) April 6, 2021

Jane Williams, a long-time environmental activist who chairs the Sierra Club’s National Clean Air Team, said Midlothian Breathe’s predicament is not unique to Texas. 

“No matter what state you’re in, no matter what local jurisdiction you’re in, these cement plants are very savvy at getting local authorities to be friendly toward whatever they want to do. You’re really in a David v. Goliath battle from the beginning. You’re fighting not only the industry, but also usually the process of the state government.”

Jail for businessman who filled old quarry in Somerset with hazardous waste

In 2018, the Environment Agency launched an investigation into illegal dumping by a 'significant number of companies and individuals' at Stowey Quarry, a former limestone quarry near Chew Valley reservoir – a water supply for Bristol. We posted about it at the time.

This week, a contractor was jailed for illegally disposing of 100,000 tonnes of waste: 

Much of the waste arriving at Stowey Quarry was misleadingly described as a ‘soil substitute’ in a deliberate attempt to circumvent the rules. 

The illegal operation, which accepted waste from around England, was described at Bristol Crown Court as one of the most serious risks of harm in the country during the past 30 years.

Other defendants in the case are due to be sentenced later.

LafargeHolcim “is a systematic polluter” says Greenpeace Switzerland

Since 2013, we have posted how the company that would ultimately profit from any quarrying at Straitgate Farm would be the same company accused of pollution and human rights violations, devastating livelihoods of local communities; just click on pollution or human rights labels or posts like:

The terrible human cost of LafargeHolcim’s operations  

LafargeHolcim: “a long history of questionable business practices”  

LafargeHolcim is in trouble again, this time in Indonesia  

UN links LafargeHolcim with atrocities against Rohingya in Myanmar 

LafargeHolcim’s “internal controls have failed again after the Syrian IS scandal” 

‘LafargeHolcim pollutes with impunity’  

Lafarge CEO explains why company polluted river Seine

Last year, research by Greenpeace Switzerland found that LafargeHolcim – the parent company of Aggregate Industries – "is responsible or is expected to take responsibility for at least 122 cases of environmental pollution and human rights violations in 34 different countries."

 

According to the latest report of Greenpeace Schweiz, LafargeHolcim is responsible for 122 cases of environmental pollution and human rights violations in 34 countries. We urgently need a regulation: #climatestrike #pollution #kvi #inimulti https://t.co/cRShqhLYvY

— Yvan Maillard Ardenti (@YvanMaillard) November 4, 2020

Greenpeace’s report is in German, but here’s a Google Translation of one page: 

Number of cases (122) countries (34) Scandals / subject areas
2 Egypt Regulatory Violations
1 Algeria Violation of labor and trade union rights
2 Argentina air pollution
1 Bangladesh Regulatory Violations
1 Benin air pollution
2 Brazil Air pollution, hazardous waste incineration, exceeding emission limits, health hazards, tax evasion, price fixing
43 China air pollution, water pollution, hazardous waste incineration,Noise nuisance, others 1 Costa Rica air pollution
1 Germany Exceeding the emission limit values
3 Ecuador air and water pollution
4 Guinea air pollution, health hazard
14 India air and water pollution, environmental degradation, noise pollution, Hazardous waste incineration, health impairments, regulatory violations, cartel agreements, tax evasion
2 Indonesia environmental degradation, tax evasion
1 Jordan water pollution, health hazard
2 Cameroon air and water pollution, health hazard
2 Kenya air pollution
1 Colombia Incineration of hazardous waste, cartel agreements
3 Lebanon Illegal limestone mining, air and water pollution, Exceeding the emission limit values, bribery
1 Morocco air pollution, health hazard
3 Mexico environmental degradation, hazardous waste incineration, air and water pollution, Health hazard, human rights violation
1 Myanmar human rights violation
7 Nigeria environmental degradation, air, soil and water pollution, exceedance the emission limit values, noise pollution, health hazard
1 Peru air pollution
4 Philippines Illegal hazardous waste incineration, water pollution, violation of labor and trade union rights, regulatory violations, health hazards
2 Romania Illegal hazardous waste incineration, emission limit values exceeded, price fixing
1 Zambia pollution
2 Zimbabwe air pollution
1 Slovenia Exceeding the emission limit values, health hazard
3 Spain Illegal mining, exceeding emission limits, air, soil and Water pollution, cartel agreements
2 South Africa cartel agreements, violation of labor and trade union rights
4 Syria Support for Terrorist Groups, Unfair Business Practices
1 Tanzania environmental degradation, air and soil pollution
2 Uganda air pollution, child labor
1 USA cartel agreements

Matthias Wüthrich, Head of the Corporate Responsibility Campaign for Greenpeace Swiss, said:

The sheer number of proven and probable cases is a scandal in itself. That alone shows that LafargeHolcim is a systematic polluter.  

 

Recherche von @greenpeace_ch: 122 Fälle von #Umweltverschmutzung und #Menschenrechtsverletzungen in 34 Ländern, für die der Schweizer Konzern @LafargeHolcim verantwortlich ist oder Verantwortung übernehmen müsste. Ja zu @konzern_vi ist mehr als notwendig. https://t.co/Qyfr6nXIZ6 pic.twitter.com/XyNXwDMzFJ

— Greenpeace.ch (@greenpeace_ch) November 4, 2020

Lafarge CEO explains why company polluted river Seine

Responsible, ethical companies don't knowingly pollute rivers.

So what sort of company is LafargeHolcim, accused of dumping dirty water into the Seine "for years"? 

We have already posted on this subject once, but here is François Petry, CEO of LafargeHolcim France, previously CEO of Aggregate Industries, shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted, trying to explain why LafargeHolcim – parent of Aggregate Industries – was found polluting the River Seine in Paris, admitting that the practice was not acceptable, claiming that "strict action plans" have now been put in place to stop it happening again.

Lafarge accusé de déverser des eaux souillées dans la Seine : "nous avons mis en place des plans d'actions extrêmement stricts" selon François Petry, Directeur général de LafargeHolcim France

🎙@chrisjaku, Sandra Gandoin, François Petry pic.twitter.com/1JO8cfo65D

— Good Morning Business (@goodmorning_biz) November 18, 2020

#ASIalu Lafarge déverse ses eaux usées dans la Seine en toute impunité "depuis des années", nous apprend une enquête implacable de @libe, là où bien d'autres médias n'ont pas creusé ce sujet pourtant sensible, en plein Paris. [payant]https://t.co/wR21hhVgZi

— Arrêt sur Images (@arretsurimages) November 17, 2020

Devon quarry operator pollutes River Yealm

On Monday, the Environment Agency received reports of the River Yealm changing colour:

 

Quarry turns River Yealm white https://t.co/meBm58Fjrf pic.twitter.com/6nLrtzTPDU

— Spotlight (@BBCSpotlight) November 17, 2020

The pollution incident was investigated by an environment officer, who: 

 "traced it back to a quarry operation further up the catchment"

Aggregate Industries is one of a small number of operators with quarries in the catchment.  

Aggregate Industries is also the company that wants to quarry Straitgate Farm. A watercourse from Straitgate feeds the mediaeval fishponds at Grade I Cadhay House. Numerous concerns have been raised. Is it any surprise? What would happen if a similar pollution event were to happen here?

Photo: Matt Austin

One of the most beautiful buildings in #EastDevon is receiving £50,000 from the @DCMS Culture Recovery Fund for Heritage. @CadhayHouse near #OtteryStMary needs protecting for future generations. It was great to visit and appreciate an important part of #EastDevon history. pic.twitter.com/huMn4ExXAA

— Simon Jupp MP (@simonjamesjupp) October 9, 2020

EDIT 24.11.20

Cause of River Yealm turning white is confirmed by Environment Agency https://t.co/sVfk4sDxPC

— Alex Green (@alexrichgreen1) November 24, 2020

A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said: "The Environment Agency continues to investigate the incident which affected a large stretch of the River Yealm on 16 November.

"Rainfall had caused contaminated run-off to escape the containment area of a quarry-related operation and enter the river."

Asphalt roads make city air pollution worse in summer, study finds

It's going to take more than electric vehicles to solve our air pollution problem – if we keep laying asphalt.

Whilst Aggregate Industries proposes a new asphalt plant on a Devon hilltop with a 27m smokestack, researchers from Yale University, Carnegie Mellon University and the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry have shown that emissions from asphalt surfaces are a significant source of air pollution in urban areas, especially in hot weather.

Asphalt roads make city air pollution worse in summer, study finds https://t.co/PrMU2r3z89

— The Guardian (@guardian) September 2, 2020

Dr Gary Fuller, senior lecturer in air quality measurement at Imperial College London, said:

"We already know road surfaces are an increasingly important source of air pollution. We have historically thought of traffic pollution as coming from vehicle exhausts. This has been the focus of policy and new vehicles have to be fitted with exhaust clean-up technologies.



"With heavier and heavier vehicles, the combined total of particle pollution from road surface, brake and tyre wear is now greater than the particle emissions from vehicle exhaust but there are no policies to control this."

Lafarge accused of polluting the Seine

Wherever LafargeHolcim – the parent company of Aggregate Industries – operates, it seems to court controversy. This time it’s in Paris:

EXCLUSIF - Béton dans la Seine : Lafarge en a déversé sur un autre site de Paris https://t.co/TeH3o2nuta

— Europe 1 🎧🌍📻 (@Europe1) September 2, 2020

Info @Europe1 : en plein Paris, le groupe Lafarge rejette directement dans la Seine les eaux usées de l'une de ses usines. Dedans, des particules de ciment, des liquides de traitement et des microfibres de plastique. https://t.co/2rx4VGVUNV pic.twitter.com/DdSxs4xkuD

— Margaux Baralon (@MargauxBaralon) September 1, 2020

Ça continue pour Lafarge. @Ju_Morin a récupéré pour @Europe1 les photos d'un camion qui vidange directement dans la Seine depuis un autre site du cimentier, dans le 15e arrondissement. Cela dure depuis des années, selon une asso de riverains. https://t.co/jETCiBgfW9 pic.twitter.com/R6VDt7SLF4

— Margaux Baralon (@MargauxBaralon) September 2, 2020

According to Global Cement:

The mayor of Paris has contacted the public prosecutor to request a criminal action against LafargeHolcim.

EDIT 8.9.20

Lafarge Holcim has been accused of dumping industrial waste into the Seine at two separate locations https://t.co/etkc07JxDR pic.twitter.com/bthTcuGLqG

— Reuters (@Reuters) September 8, 2020

Reuters quotes François Petry, previously head of Aggregate Industries, now head of LafargeHolcim France:

“We take these isolated incidents that took place in two of our sites by La Seine very seriously.” 

He said the firm was no longer working with a driver involved in one of the incidents - he did not specify which one - and that he had personally reminded employees and contractors about complying with company standards.  

All the firm’s Paris sites will undergo an audit, and a re-training program has been launched, Petry said. 

Is the EA ‘working hard to protect and improve’ our waters, or not?

The Environment Agency claims:

Recent media reports have raised important concerns about our rivers and waterways, which we are working hard to protect and improve.

Read more in today's blog 👇https://t.co/4bmQwYGReT

— Environment Agency (@EnvAgency) August 17, 2020

Meanwhile, Sir James Bevan, Head of the Environment Agency, gave a different message entirely:

Environment Agency chief supports plan to weaken river pollution rules https://t.co/UFI6smJmQS

— The Guardian (@guardian) August 19, 2020

The head of the Environment Agency has endorsed a proposal to weaken laws on cleanliness of polluted rivers, lakes and coastlines after Brexit.

Bevan flagged the idea of amending the EU’s water framework directive (WFD) to an audience of business leaders. England has consistently failed to bring its rivers up to the standard required under the directive, which puts waterways through four stringent tests designed to assess their health. Rivers have to be assessed on all four tests in order to be graded as “good” – known as the one-out-all-out rule. Just 14% of English rivers have been assessed under the directive as good...

But Bevan said in his speech that he wanted England to reform the directive to end the one-out-all-out rule and allow rivers to be judged on one criterion rather than all four. If that changed, the number of rivers judged in a good state would rise dramatically overnight.

The Guardian revealed last month that water companies released 1.5m hours of raw sewage via storm outflows into rivers in 2019, in 204,000 discharges all of which are permitted by Bevan’s agency. Critics say the agency is giving water companies a licence to pollute, and exploiting the rules that say sewage can only be released in exceptional circumstances, like extreme rainfall.

"The worst kind of clumsy pretence aimed at trying to cover up decades worth of the EA’s own failure and incompetence". Feargal Sharkey.https://t.co/PqMG0PtbC9

— Feargal Sharkey (@Feargal_Sharkey) August 19, 2020

‘LafargeHolcim pollutes with impunity’

LafargeHolcim is the parent company of Aggregate Industries.

@LafargeHolcim pollue l'air d'un village nigérian impunément. Si ce nom vous dit quelque chose, c'est peut-être parce que lafarge est le plus gros cimentier du monde, avec 2 000 millions de bénéf cette année, et aussi parce que lafarge a financé Daesh. https://t.co/pR9hsbR2Db pic.twitter.com/UPr38cVtPD

— Léo #StopProductionNonEssentielle #RestezChezVous (@Leolecolo) August 18, 2020

@LafargeHolcim Zimbabwe dust emissions will make it difficult to its surrounding residents to survive from Covid19 and if u survive there is a high chance of dying from breathing their dust pic.twitter.com/6GYJhRBYOy

— Godfreyt (@godietm) August 14, 2020

pic.twitter.com/TDDfCYrZHn

— Petros Piki, CA(Z), MSc, RPA (@petpiki) August 11, 2020

Pollution from @LafargeHolcim is destroying lives in Zimbabwe. There is need to balance profits with sustainable production processes! @SustConstrFdn @fundholcimecu @WHO #pollution #ZimbabweanLivesMatter @classic263 #Sustainability pic.twitter.com/jHtDWpVzlD

— Petros Piki, CA(Z), MSc, RPA (@petpiki) August 8, 2020

A health catastrophe is happening in Zim🇿🇼 as a result of @LafargeZimbabwe @LafargeHolcim https://t.co/pEc5LOL4b5 this issue has been reported for many years and it’s the same story. No action. How n why are @EMAeep n @METHI_Zimbabwe allowing that happen? #ZimbabweanLivesMatter

— tafara ruvimbo (@mwanadandadzi) August 9, 2020

Its so sad that they have been killing people for so long. Driving around Mabvuku the dust is evident on trees one wonders how people breath. #wecantbreathe #BlackLivesMatter @LafargeHolcim @Safetyinplants @SustConstrFdn @Lafarge_Africa

— Petros Piki, CA(Z), MSc, RPA (@petpiki) August 12, 2020

Deep-sea mining

Ocean-dwelling species are disappearing twice as fast as land animals. A new animation – a collaboration between Greenpeace and Aardman – highlights the threats to sea turtles and our oceans, including from mining. Watch, sign the petition, and share.

From climate change and plastic pollution, to mining and overfishing, the threats facing our oceans get more urgent every day. #ProtectTheOceans >> https://t.co/wXlbFeUQ7g pic.twitter.com/OjrcllhNUy

— Greenpeace (@Greenpeace) January 2, 2020

Mining companies are gearing up to destroy one of the last great unknowns on Earth: the ocean floor. We must #ProtectTheOceanshttps://t.co/s7Bx8gmqA4

— Greenpeace (@Greenpeace) July 11, 2019

‘Quarry dumping contaminates drinking water, costing up to £9 BILLION in clean up’

To underline the importance of protecting drinking water sources from untoward goings-on in quarries – be it from multinational cement conglomerates or others:

A man accused of dumping hazardous waste into a quarry may have caused £9 billion in damage to North Somerset's drinking water supply.

reports the Weston, Worle & Somerset Mercury.

‘Hazardous’ quarry ‘dumping’ which may affect drinking water could cost £9billion to clean up https://t.co/hwMKUcdPbx

— Weston, Worle & Somerset Mercury (@WSMERCURY) October 20, 2019

Brendan Moorehouse, prosecuting for the Environment Agency at North Somerset Courthouse on Monday, said: "With the huge harm, the huge cost of clean up and the risk to public health, this is an extremely serious case.

"The minimum cost of clean up is in excess of £50 million, and should the contaminants leach into the Bristol city water supply it could cost up to £9 billion."