Residents near Cockburn Cement in Munster were concerned to see a large plume of dust rising from the plant and settle on cars and homes in their street last Monday.

Cockburn Cement WA general manager operations Darrin Strange told the Gazette that equipment failure was behind the emission of calcium carbonate dust, a raw material used to manufacture lime from the kiln stack.

A failed switch had cut power to the Kiln 5 electrostatic precipitator, meaning it was unable to trap dust from the kiln.

He said it posed no health threat to residents in the area and was quickly dispersed by the prevailing wind.

Mr Strange said Cockburn Cement recognised dust emissions were a nuisance for its immediate neighbours.

However, the facilities operating licence made provisions for unavoidable equipment failures.