Lone Star Industries, Inc. (Buzzi), Clean Air Act Settlement

(Washington, DC – August 1, 2016) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) announced today a Clean Air Act (CAA) settlement with Lone Star Industries, Inc., d/b/a Buzzi Unicem USA (Buzzi), which covers Buzzi’s Portland cement manufacturing facility in Missouri. Buzzi agreed to invest approximately $1 million in pollution control technology that will protect public health and resolve violations of the CAA. The settlement requires that Buzzi spend approximately $1.7 million on an environmental mitigation project and pay a civil penalty of $60,000. 

On this page:

• Overview of Company
• Violations
• Injunctive Relief
• Pollutant Reductions
• Health and Environmental Effects
• Environmental Mitigation Projects
• Civil Penalty
• Comment Period
• Contact

Overview of Company

Buzzi is a Delaware corporation with headquarters in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. As one of the largest cement producers in the United States, Buzzi owns and operates seven cement plants with a production capacity of eight million metric tons. It supplies cement and masonry cement to ready-mix concrete, highway, and airport paving firms, concrete block companies, and concrete product firms.

The settlement covers Buzzi’s Portland cement manufacturing facility in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, located about 100 miles south of St. Louis, Missouri. The plant operates one four-stage preheater/precalciner kiln with a clinker production capacity of approximately 1,300,000 tons per year (tpy).

Violations

As part of the National Enforcement Initiative addressing New Source Review/Prevention of Significant Deterioration (NSR/PSD) within the cement manufacturing sector, the EPA issued a Notice of Violation to Buzzi in March 2011. Based on Buzzi’s response to the EPA’s CAA Section 114 Information Request and information obtained through an inspection of the Cape Girardeau manufacturing facility, the EPA concluded that there were PSD violations at the plant. The EPA alleged that Buzzi performed two projects that triggered PSD requirements under the CAA and Missouri state implementation plan. The EPA also alleged violations of Title V of the CAA for failure to submit an application to include all applicable requirements in Buzzi’s Title V permits. 

Injunctive Relief

The consent decree secures injunctive relief from the Cape Girardeau manufacturing facility. Compliance with the settlement will reduce oxides of nitrogen (NO_x) and sulfur dioxide (SO₂) by more than 960 tpy. Buzzi must install pollution control technology at its manufacturing facility, as well as Continuous Emission Monitoring Systems (CEMS). The capital cost of the new pollution controls is estimated at $1 million.

Specifically, the settlement requires:

• Compliance with best available control technology-level emission rates for NO_x and SO₂.
• Installation of selective non-catalytic reduction control technology for NO_x.
• Installation of a lime injection system to control SO₂ emissions.
• Installation and continuous operation of CEMS for both NO_x and SO₂. 

Pollutant Reductions

The EPA expects, at a minimum, the following emission reductions to result from this settlement:

• 720 tpy of NO_x
• 240 tpy of SO₂

Health Effects and Environmental Benefits

The pollutants reduced under this settlement have numerous adverse environmental and health effects. SO₂ and NO_x can be converted to fine particulate matter once in the air. Fine particulates can be breathed in and lodged deep in the lungs, leading to a variety of health problems and even premature death. Other health and environmental impacts from the pollutants addressed in this settlement include the following:

Nitrogen Oxides – NO_x can cause ground-level ozone, acid rain, particulate matter, global warming, water quality deterioration, and visual impairment. NO_x play a major role, with volatile organic chemicals, in the atmospheric reactions that produce ozone.  Children, people with lung diseases such as asthma, and people who work or exercise outside are susceptible to adverse effects such as damage to lung tissue and reduction in lung function.

Sulfur Dioxide – High concentrations of SO₂ affect breathing and may aggravate existing respiratory and cardiovascular disease. Sensitive populations include asthmatics, individuals with bronchitis or emphysema, children, and the elderly. SO₂ is also a primary contributor to acid deposition, including acid rain. 

Environmental Mitigation Projects

The consent decree requires Buzzi to retire and destroy the engine block of one of its own Tier 0 front end loaders and replace it with a new, more efficient Tier 4 front end loader. The estimated cost of the new front end loader was over $1.7 million. The estimated emission reductions from this engine replacement are 4.3 tpy of NO_x.

Civil Penalty

Buzzi will pay a total of $60,000 in civil penalties. 

Comment Period

The proposed settlement, lodged in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, is subject to a 30-day public comment period and final court approval.   Information on how to comment on the consent decree is available on the Department of Justice website.

For more information, contact:

Seema Kakade
Air Enforcement Division
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20460
(202) 564-2416
[email protected]