Waiareka Valley Preservation Society, Inc

Press Release

29 January 2007

Society says Holcim putting aesthetics before pollution control

Rodney Jones, spokesman for the Waiareka Valley Preservation Society commented today:

“The latest photomontages reveal that Holcim is placing aesthetics before pollution control in the design of the plant. The priority seems to be in minimizing direct visual impacts on Oamaru, rather than minimising pollution impacts.

It is clear that Holcim has designed the size of the smokestack to match the escarpment, and to ensure the plant is not visible from Oamaru. This is unacceptable.

Internationally, smokestacks in one million tonne cement plants are normally around 120m, yet Holcim has capped the Weston plant smokestack at 104m.

Our concern is that a 104m smokestack – set below the ridge line - is not sufficient to allow proper dispersal of pollutants. Anyone who has an open fire knows that the chimney should be set well above the roof line. Why should this plant be any different?

In order to reduce visual pollution Holcim is compromising on pollution control and dispersal. Yet this is not a wind farm. This is a plant that will produce large quantities of dust, oxides and heavy metal pollution, which will need to be dispersed over a wide area.

In its visual presentations, Holcim needs to provide a lot more detail on the plume.

Given its size, this plant will have a plume that will either be hundreds of metres high, or a number of kilometres long – depending on the specific wind conditions on the day. This plume will certainly be visible from Weston and Oamaru – and up to 30km away. We need to see a more detailed image of the plant, with the plume coming out of the smokestack.

Residents need images of what this plant will look like when it is operating under different wind conditions, rather than when it is not operating – as in the current photomontages.

In order to highlight the significance of a cement plant plume - and the nature of cement plants themselves - we have made available on our website video footage and photos of Holcim’s cement plant in Midlothian, Texas (see www.wvps.co.nz). Cement plants are not the pristine white design concepts as in Holcim’s images. They are dirty, dusty, rusted industrial plants that generate significant amounts of pollution 24/7, up to 365 days of the year.

In addition, by choosing to represent how the plant surrounds will look in 15-20 years time, Holcim is electing to downplay the immediate impact on the environment. In their latest images they have represented the conveyor belt that climbs the escarpment as completely covered in native bush. This is completely unrealistic. The Whitstone Bluffs are a significant natural landscape, and Holcim’s conveyor belt will inflict permanent damage on this landscape.

Rather than continuing to cynically manipulate the local population, Holcim needs to enter into a genuine dialogue on the numerous adverse effects associated with this plant. Genuine consultation requires the release of information that has not been manipulated to suit Holcim’s case.

ENDS

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