Draft EIR for Orcem grinding plant in California

Ecocem’s American subsidiary, Orcem Americas, is seeking permission to build a US$50 million grinding plant in Vallejo, close to San Francisco. The plant will grind blastfurnace slag to create ‘green’ cement and is being built on the site of an old flour mill at the harbour. It will also be capable of grinding clinker to make Portland cement.

Local residents have expressed concern over the increased traffic that the plant will bring – up to 300 trucks per day and long trains of up to 77 cars. A Draft Environmental Impact Report has been prepared, which highlights some of the unavoidable impacts of the project, including air and noise pollution. Once public comment closes on this on 2 November a formal Environmental Impact Report will be released to the city’s Planning Commission for review.

The Orcem product, ecocem, takes 90% less energy to produce and has near zero CO2 and mercury emissions compared to traditional Portland cements. As an additive in concrete that can replace a proportion of traditional cement, it can be used in many types of concrete applications – and has already been used in some major projects in California, including the 49ers Stadium and the new Apple headquarters.

Edited from various sources by Katherine Guenioui

Sources:

• Irish Times
• Times-Herald

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/the-americas/09102015/draft-eir-for-orcem-grinding-plant-in-california-744/