Sources: U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Miami; Staff reports An early-January ruling stands to significantly increase costs and complicate litigation burdens for In Re Florida Cement and Concrete Antitrust Litigation plaintiffs. Greatly streamlined from initial claims of a five-year scope and 10-defendant pool, the two-year-old case alleges a 2008–2009 concrete price-fixing conspiracy among Cemex Inc., Florida…
Read MoreDay: January 13, 2012
CalPortland agrees to pay $1.4 million to settle Clean Air Act violations
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C. The Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced in mid-December that CalPortland Company (CPC) has agreed to pay a $1.425 million penalty to resolve alleged violations of the Clean Air Act at its cement plant in Mojave, Calif. In addition to the penalty, CPC will spend an estimated $1.3…
Read MoreASTM raises bar to generous threshold for C595’s ground limestone content
Sources: National Ready Mixed Concrete Association; Staff reports In a move that will provide the opportunity for the cement and concrete industries to reduce products’ carbon footprint, a proposal was approved to permit up to 15 percent ground limestone in blended cements under ASTM C595 (Blended Hydraulic Cements), with the resulting product characterized as limestone blended cements. Similar revisions are…
Read MoreAsh Grove becomes first U.S. cement maker ISO certify all plants
Source: Ash Grove Cement Co., Overland Park, Kan. Ash Grove Vice President of Environmental Affairs, Curtis Lesslie, PE, announced that the company is currently the only domestic cement manufacturer to have its entire fleet of eight operating clinker manufacturing facilities earn the prestigious ISO 14001 certification. In 2010, seven of the company’s facilities earned the designation; its reconstructed Foreman, Ark.,…
Read MoreCemex finalizes Davenport Redwood Forest property to conservation group
Source: Cemex USA, Houston Cemex USA recently finalized the $30 million sale of its approximately 8,500-acre Redwood Forest property near the Cemex Davenport cement plant to a consortium of local land trusts. The land trusts comprise the Living Landscape Initiative, a major conservation project in the Silicon Valley area. The deal follows the plant’s closure in January 2010 and guarantees…
Read MoreRetirements push Ash Grove to reorganize manufacturing department
Source: Ash Grove Cement Co., Overland Park, Kan. With the impending retirement of two key leaders in Ash Grove’s manufacturing organization during the first half of 2012, the company is beginning the transition to its new reporting structure, explained Michael J. Hrizuk, senior vice president–manufacturing. The changes became effective Jan. 1, 2012.
Read MoreScott named PCA senior VP of Government Affairs
Source: Portland Cement Association, Skokie, Ill. PCA appointed Gregory M. Scott senior vice president of government affairs on Jan. 1, 2012. He will head the association’s Washington office and represent PCA and its members before Congress, the Administration and the White House.
Read MoreCement Totals—October 2011
Source: U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Va. Total shipments of portland and blended cement in the United States and Puerto Rico were about 7.3 million mt in October 2011, according to the USGS. This was 4.0 perfect higher compared with shipments for October 2010. Total shipments for the year through October were approximately 61.1 million mt, slightly higher compared to the…
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