BRITAIN’s pollution watchdog, the Environment Agency, has been lax and
secretive in controlling emissions from cement kilns, says the House of Commons
Select Committee on the Environment. In a report, the committee also accuses the
agency of failing “to command public confidence”.
The committee’s investigation was prompted by public anxiety over the growing
number of cement kilns that burn waste industrial solvents to reduce their fuel
costs (“Bending the rules on toxic fuels”, Â鶹´«Ã½, 23 March
1996, p 14). The Environment Agency promises “stronger and more consistent
regulation of cement processes in the future”.
