Lafarge Dunbar, Scotland, is the only industrial plant in the Lothians to receive an ‘unsatisfactory’ score in the Scottish Environment Protection Agency’s (SEPA) annual assessment of operations.
 
The national environment watchdog awarded the cement factory – located on the fringes of the town – just 17 marks from a possible 35 in a performance review of the factory’s operations for 2008. In particular, Lafarge Dunbar received just one mark from five in the sub-category ‘incidents, complaints and non-compliance events’.
 
This marks the second time in two years the Dunbar works has received a low score in the assessment.
 
The plant was automatically marked down because of an “offensive odour” problem for which SEPA served an enforcement notice last year.
 
Rob Ebbins, SEPA process engineering manager, said the Dunbar plant had performed well in other categories but added a score of one against any attribute meant the overall assessment is deemed unsatisfactory.
 
“Lafarge has complied fully with the requirements of the enforcement notice, which required the submission of a number of reports against specified deadlines,” he said. “The final report was submitted on December 5, 2008 and all the submissions required are available on the Public Register at our Edinburgh office.
 
“Lafarge’s response to the enforcement notice has been constructive throughout and it is clear that they are committed to resolving odour issues at the site.”
 
Source:  www.eastlothiancourier.com