A DECISION to present Castle Cement with an environmental award for burning controversial Cemfuel has been branded a joke.

The Clitheroe-based firm has been chosen from among 70 entries to be rewarded by the Green Organisation, a privately-funded national group which promotes moves to improve the environment.

Castle Cement bosses received one of five Green Apple awards presented to "larger firms" during a ceremony at the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health in London.

But the burning of Cemfuel, a mixture of industrial waste, has created widespread concern in the local community, despite being approved by the Government.

And the company has struggled to reduce the effects of plumes of smoke from its Ribblesdale works dropping to ground level.

Pendle MP Gordon Prentice was "astonished" when he was told about the award and said: "It's like April Fools' Day coming three months too late.

"If you said this to the parents in Clitheroe, when the plume descends on the playground where their children are playing, they would regard it as a bad joke.

"The jury is still out on Cemfuel for many people. The Government took a year to reply to the Environmental Select Committee report on the burning of fuels before it approved Cemfuel and a lot of

people remain sceptical.

"I find it astonishing that any award could be given to the company before it has got the problem of plume grounding sorted out."

The decision to make the award has been defended by Roger Wolens, the Green Organisation's national organiser.

He said: "Each entry is examined and looked at carefully.

"We accept that nobody is perfect. What we do is recognise the positive actions that are taken.

"We leave the pressure groups to look after the negative side of things.

"Nobody is 100 per cent green but we recognise the progress that is being made."

In his submission for the award, Castle's environment manager Iain Walpole said the firm had been the first cement manufacturer to develop an alternative fuels programme. He said the firm had beaten rivals in adopting an environmental police statement and carrying out environmental audits.

Mr Walpole said an appraisal had shown that the use of Cemfuel meant cement quality could be maintained without any adverse environmental impact.

He added: "The use of Cemfuel has saved over 80,000 tonnes of fossil fuel to date and is expected to save around 70,000 tonnes in 1996."

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