The head of Cemex for the West Coast spoke to county leaders this morning, outlining numerous steps the cement factory will take in eradicating Chromium VI from its operations and helping Davenport residents feel safe in their community.

Cemex Vice President Satish Sheth, who lives in Santa Cruz County and has worked at the cement plant since the 1970s, told the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday that the use of raw materials with chromium has been halted and in the future, the company plans to use only nonchromium products such as iron.

The supervisors took up the chromium 6 issue after unreasonable levels of chromium 6 were detected in the air at the Davenport elementary school and fire department this summer.

Results of the tests, which were conducted by the Monterey Bay Unified Air Pollution Control District in June, July and August, were made available last week.