For 35 years, Cemex has been producing cement at their facility located just south of Lyons. They’ve also produced a laundry list of complaints over the past 10 years from nearby neighbors, who say fugitive plumes of cement dust have been ruining their health, not to mention their cars’ paint jobs.
Last November, armed with video evidence supplied by a brave whistleblower, Boulder Weekly looked into alleged environmental violations at Cemex. The exposé prompted a federal inspection, the results of which are still unavailable. In February, state officials fined Cemex more than $200,000 for violating state air quality-control laws.
But just as neighbors thought they could relax and open their windows to take in the fresh spring air, a landslide of "dust events" have been reported at the factory.
A spokesman for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment says they are actively investigating 16 complaints filed against the plant since February, including what he called a "catastrophic malfunction" resulting in a massive unanticipated dust release. State officials say the incident, which sent an enormous dust plume wafting across the landscape, is likely to be ruled an "upset." That’s polluter lingo for an "unpreventable, unforseeable" emission.
Either way, it sounds pretty gross. Cement dust is caustic and damaging to living things. How catastrophic does a "dust event" have to get before the cement giant scrutinizes management at its Lyons plant?