A CEMENT firm has unveiled plans to dump waste dust from its kilns on the outskirts of a Ribble Valley village.

Castle Cement in Clitheroe wants to build a series of kiln dust "cells" in the north-eastern corner of its massive Lanehead Quarry near Chatburn.

But environmentalists claim the dump will be too near houses and have demanded to know exactly what the dust will contain.

The matter came up before Ribble Valley Council's Planning and Development Committee, which heard Castle Cement's current waste dust dump at Coplow Quarry, near its Ribblesdale Works, was full.

Planning officer Colin Sharpe said: "Cement kiln dust is the solid waste residue from the cement manufacturing process and the only major waste from the cement industry.

"The dust contains alkalis, which if not removed from the cement have a potentially detrimental effect on the quality and performance of the finished product.

"The proposed development will provide a landfill facility for the permanent disposal of cement kiln dust waste materials."

Castle Cement has permission to extract limestone from Lanehead Quarry, situated between Clitheroe and Chatburn, until 2027.

Mr Sharpe told the meeting that water would be added to the waste dust to ensure it did not blow away, it would not be hauled on public roads and the proposed facility would be well screened by trees.

He added: "The dust could be raised by wind upon tipping if it was allowed to dry. The prevailing wind direction is towards Chatburn and to overcome this problem water will be added to the dust, with only a small area being deposited at a time.

"It is essential that Lancashire County Council imposes appropriate conditions to ensure no detriment to the amenities of residents, particularly with regard to noise and dust, or the appearance, character, ecology and nature conservation of the locality. I would therefore recommend we agree in principle to this scheme."

Planning chairman Richard Sherras said councillors were concerned about the plan and would be seeking assurances from Lancashire County Council, which as the principle planning authority has the final say on the matter.

"Lancashire County Council must find out what this is all about. There are lots of concerns about this plan, although we have been assured the dust will not contain toxic waste."

Castle Cement has been dumping kiln dust at Coplow Quarry since 1985, but the site is now full and it wants to dump up to 10,000 tonnes of dust a year at Lanehead.

The company has reduced the amount of dust it dumps from 28,000 to 12,000 tonnes a year after finding alternative uses for it.

Gareth Price, general manager at Castle Cement in Clitheroe, said: "The dust is classified as hazardous waste, but our application includes details of numerous precautions to ensure it doesn't affect the local community.

"We are always on the lookout for other outlets for it and it has been used successfully in a number of land reclamation projects."

"The dust is classified as hazardous by the Environment Agency, because it contains between ten and twelve per cent lime, which is a potential irritant.

"In fact, the lime content is why this material is being used so successfully in land reclamation projects, such as at Silverdale Colliery."

But Worston resident Lynda England, of Hyndburn and Ribble Valley Friends of the Earth, said she was shocked at the prospect of kiln dust being dumped within hundreds of yards of houses.

"I can't understand why Castle Cement wants to dump this dust at Lanehead. They couldn't get nearer to Chatburn if they tried. "

"There should be some way of disposing of this dust other than just dumping it and we are certainly going to keep tabs on this," she said.