Breedon Southern Ltd Dowlow Quarry

Environment Permit Variation Application Report

(Ref: ASOCT171)

Permit No – P21B-3/08

October 2017

Dowlow Quarry Sterndale Moor

Buxton Derbyshire SK17 9QF

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1.0 Introduction An Environmental Permit reference number P21B-3/08 was issued to undertake quarrying operations at Dowlow

Quarry, near Buxton, Derbyshire. The original permit is dated 28 April 2003, with the latest Transfer Variation dated

05 March 2015. Breedon Southern Ltd acquired Hope Construction Materials on 1st August 2016, and there has

since been a formal change to the legal entity. The Registered Company address is Pinnacle House, Breedon

Quarry, Main Street, Breedon on the Hill, Derby. DE73 8AP and the Company Registration Number is 00156531.

This has been communicated to the Regulator (High Peak Borough Council) in separate communications.

Permit reference P21B-3/08 is to operate a scheduled activity – “crushing, grinding or other size reduction (other than

the cutting of stone) or the grading, screening or heating of any designated mineral or mineral product except where

the operation of the process is unlikely to result in the release into the air of particulate matter” – Chapter 3, Section

3.5, Part B (a) of the Schedule 1, Environmental Permitting Regulations. This document is to support an application

for a substantial variation to the current Permit to allow additional activities to be undertaken, specifically the “Coating

of Roadstone with tar or bitumen” – Chapter 3, Section 3.5, Part B (e) of the Environmental Permitting Regulations.

2.0 Site Location & Description

The site is located near to the villages of Sterndale Moor & Earl Sterndale, and 5 miles southeast of Buxton,

Derbyshire. Mineral won at the site is used to produce a range of limestone products for industrial uses and as

aggregates. The quarry site covers approximately 90 hectares (ha) and is bound to the north west by Hindlow

Quarry, to the north-east by a mineral railway line and to the south and east by enclosed pastureland. The boundary

of the Peak District National Park is located close to the site to the north. The Crome and Parkhouse Hills and the

Fox Hole Cave Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) are located approximately 2.3 km from the site.

The quarry site currently produces a range of aggregate materials in various sizes for use in readymix concrete

production, sale of dry aggregates and for use in animal feed production by Omya UK. Products are dispatched from

Dowlow via road to local markets, and rail for wider dispatch throughout England & Wales. The environmental

setting of the operations is shown in the images below.

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Figure 1 General Location of installation (Taken from Google Earth)

Dowlow Quarry – boundary marked in black, accessed from A515 Buxton (to the North West) – Ashbourne (to the

South East).

Dust Monitoring Gauge locations – marked by Yellow pin – in Sterndale Village and on the perimeter on the

Southeast Boundary

3.0 Dowlow Quarry Operations

Permission from Derbyshire County Council, under the General Permitted Development Order 2015 has been

granted for the erection of an asphalt plant – reference PD17/1/64, dated 31 August 2017. This application is to vary

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the existing Environmental Permit, issued by High Peak Borough Council, to include the operation of this plant as part

of the Dowlow operations.

3.1 Existing Activity

The existing activity at Dowlow is described as follows:

• The removal and stockpiling on site of overburden. This material is generally used in restoration of

worked areas.

• The excavation and transportation of blasted rock to crusher feed points. Dowlow Limestone is drilled

and blasted, by an in-house blasting team, using a combination of packaged explosives and ANFO

mixed on site. Blasted material is loaded into dump trucks, by excavator and transported to the primary

crusher.

• The dump trucks tip the blasted rock into the Primary Crusher dump hopper, which in turn feeds onto an

MMD Pan Feeder. The material then moves across a Roll Grizzly, which separates out <125mm

Scalpings, onto a dedicated stockpile, and allows >125mm material to pass forward into the Primary

Crusher. Product from the Primary Crusher is either stockpiled, then screened to produce 80mm-40mm

material, or >40mm material is carried forward to Secondary crushing. Further crushing will produce

<40mm, <20mm and single sizes (0-2mm, 4mm, 6mm, 10mm, 14mm & 20mm materials) which will be

stocked for sale & dispatch or use in the new Asphalt plant

• The washing of crushed rock is carried out in a dedicated plant to remove excessive fines and silt

materials. The plant, which incorporates a crusher and a screen, is fully enclosed. Water is abstracted

under license, stored on site, used in the process and for dust suppression and housekeeping activities.

There is no discharge from Dowlow Quarry.

• The crushing, screening and stockpiling of these materials. There are 3 stages of crushing available on

site, as described above. Material is moved via conveyors or dump trucks to stockpiles; 3-sided sleeper

bays are used for material loading onto trains and a dust shed is dedicated to certain products requiring

dry storage and protection from wind-ship. This shed will be located such that the rear of the shed faces

the prevailing wind direction, to minimize potential for wind-whipping.

• The loading and transportation from the site by road and rail vehicles of crushed and screened materials.

Road vehicles are loaded by conveyor and chute or directly by loading shovel. Road vehicles pass

through a wheel wash and over the site weighbridge prior to leaving site. Rail vehicles are loaded from

3-sided sleeper bays located in the rail loadout area. These bays are fed from the aggregate plant bins

by rubber wheeled dumpers, dust suppression is provided by dedicated mobile truck.

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• The use of additional authorised mobile crushing and screening plant as and when required.

• The discharge of waste material from the processes to tipping areas within the site boundary.

These activities have been carried out in compliance with an Environmental Permit, first issued in 2003 – reference

number PG21B-3/08.

3.2 Proposed Additional Activity

The proposal is to operate an asphalt plant, located within the processing area at Dowlow Quarry. The plant, a

Gibault-OHL urban asphalt plant, will be located in the north-western corner of the site. The plant will be housed

within a series of connected buildings, and will comprise conveyor feeds, a dryer, mixing tower, storage silos and

tanks (for filler, fuel and bitumen), cold recycling unit and a bag filtration arrestment plant. There will also be

aggregate bays and loading areas, and the facility to store and use Recycled Asphalt Pavement (RAP) will be

incorporated. The asphalt plant will be fully enclosed within a building, with a maximum roofline height of 22.5

metres, and a stack with a maximum height of 26.5 metres. The plant will potentially operate 24 hours a day,

Monday – Saturday, at a maximum of 120 tonnes / hour, using a 2 tonne mixer and the plant’s 20Mw burner will be

fueled by Processed Fuel Oil.

The asphalt plant will use dry single sized aggregates, including limestone filler, produced by Dowlow Quarry.

Materials will be fed into the Asphalt plant cold feed bins using loading shovel. Limestone filler will be produced on

site and stored in appropriate silos. It will either be fed direct into the asphalt plant as required, or loaded directly into

tankers for internal sale and dispatch to other Breedon Southern operations. From the cold feed bins and silos,

material will be conveyed, dried, mixed with bitumen and then stored in hot storage bins prior to loading into road

vehicles.

Figure 2 – Dowlow Quarry Process Flow

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Figure 3 – Dowlow Asphalt Plant Process Flow

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Figure 4 showing the layout of the plant and process #1 = New Asphalt Plant

4.0 Environmental Impacts

The environmental impact of the asphalt plant is discussed in this section, in the context of the new activity being

established alongside and existing quarrying operation. The environmental impact of this quarrying & mineral

processing operation is managed and controlled on an ongoing basis and these controls, procedures and practices

will continue and will support the responsible operation and management of the asphalt plant.

4.1 Potential Emissions & Controls

There is potential for additional visible emissions from the operation of the asphalt plant, including fugitive dust from

the aggregate stockpiles or from the handling and transportation of aggregates and filler materials, smoke from the

combustion process. There is also potential for odour emissions arising from asphalt production and bitumen storage

and use. The combustion process has potential for environmental impacts generally and emissions to atmosphere

can be affected during start-up and shut-down of the process and during abnormal operating conditions, such as

break down or malfunction.

The following table details the substance under consideration, the potential source of emission and the control

techniques which will be implemented on site. These control techniques are derived from the best available

techniques as determined in Process Guidance Note PG3/15, dated September 2012 and published by DEFRA.

Table 1 – Summary of Environmental Impacts & Control Techniques

Substance Emission Source Potential Control Techniques

Particulate Matter

Loading & Unloading processes

Conveyor transfer points

Medium Fully enclosed building

3-sided sleeper bays for aggregate storage

Reduced drop heights

Dust suppression – spray bars or site bowser as appropriate

Asphalt production Medium Fully enclosed building

Bag filter – fitted with 480 bags

Continuous quantitative monitoring (manufacturer to be confirmed) in batch cabin

Procedures, covering combustion process, mixing, monitoring & inspection, maintenance

Training & competence

Deliveries: to silo from road tanker; from silo to road tanker

Medium Process controls & procedures

Automatic silo protection systems – high level monitor / alarms (audible & visible)

Tanker delivery controls & procedures

Silo filling & operation

Low Process controls & procedures

Automatic silo protection systems – high level monitor / alarms (audible & visible)

Aggregate storage Medium Storage arrangements: silos for fine powder materials,

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Table 1 – Summary of Environmental Impacts & Control Techniques

Substance Emission Source Potential Control Techniques

3-sided bays for aggregates

Storage shed for small sized aggregates

Conveyors, conveyor transfer points

Low Containment – fully enclosed building

Roadways Medium Existing site controls – dust suppression, site design, including hard surfacing to allow road sweeping / cleaning

Mobile Plant & Site Vehicles

Medium Wheel wash, cleaning facilities on site

Hard surfacing of roads where practicable to allow sweeping & cleaning

Lorries (on site & on the highway)

Medium Wheel wash

Lorry sheeting

General plant operation

Low Fully enclosed building

Located away from site boundary

Odour or bitumen fume

Bitumen loading Medium Process & Temperature controls

Fully enclosed building

Ground based pumps

Location of plant away from site boundary

Bitumen storage

Handling hot bitumen or coated roadstone

Heating recycled asphalt (RAP)

Low Cold or foam mix techniques

Tar fume Heating reclaimed asphalt (RAP) containing coal tar

Low Cold or foam mix techniques

Other hydrocarbon emissions

Incomplete combustion

Medium Good combustion – process controls, procedures & training

Release agents (cleaning activities)

Low Avoid hot surfaces

Greenhouse Gas emissions (CO, SOx / NOx )

Combustion process – fuel, oil etc

Medium Good combustion – process controls, procedures & training

Visual Impact

Asphalt Plant Low Located away from site boundary, screened from external viewpoints by existing plant infrastructure

Building cladding in Merlin Grey – provides dark recessive finish

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The control techniques detailed in the above table will be established as part of the plant design and build, and as

part of the development of the management and operation procedure.

5.0 Monitoring, reporting & limits

5.1 Monitoring & Inspections

The operation will be monitored both continuously and periodically to ensure emissions are prevented, or where that

is not practicable, they are reduced.

5.1.1 Combustion process – will be free from visible smoke (in normal operation) and monitored continuously by way

of a continuous emissions monitor (CEM) and visually. The CEM will provide output of the stack emissions from the

combustion process. The display will be located in the batch cabin and visible to the plant operator at all times. The

expected emission concentration of the asphalt plant is expected to be in the region of 20-25 mg/m3 or less.

Visual checks will be made at least once per shift by the operator. The time, location and result of the checks, along

with weather conditions will be recorded on the site log book. A weather station will be installed on site to provide

accurate data. The monitoring frequency that will be implemented is shown in Table 1 below.

Any failure of the dust abatement equipment or the CEM will be fully investigated, corrective actions identified and

implemented to prevent further odour emissions.

5.1.2 Calibration & Compliance monitoring - will be carried periodically by appropriate specialist contractors. The

monitoring frequency will be as follows: 1) Upon Commissioning; 2) After 6 months operation; 3) After 12 months

operation; 4) Annual thereafter. The CEM will be calibrated and serviced annually. Adequate facilities will be

provided on the asphalt plant, to enable representative sampling of the main stack to be achieved, in compliance with

the appropriate sampling standard.

5.1.3 Fugitive Dust – monitoring of fugitive dust emissions is carried out by site personnel and also by specialist

contractors. Visual inspections are completed and recorded on Daily Logs by site personnel. Specialist contractors

undertake monitoring at 2 locations using dust deposition gauges (frisbees), with the results being provided to site

management monthly. The current monitoring locations at in the nearby village of Sterndale Moor (Grid Reference

SK 10354 68733) and on the South-East perimeter of the site boundary (Grid Reference SK10972 66984). These

locations are indicated on Figure 1. Dust monitoring results will be submitted to the Local Authority 6-monthly and

internally reviewed to identify increases in dust emission and potential sources of dust. Where issues arising from

Dowlow Quarry & Asphalt operations are confirmed, corrective actions will be identified and implemented to prevent

further issues occurring.

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5.1.4 Emissions from silos – will be controlled through the implementation of silo protection systems. Silos will be

fitted with dust filtration systems fitted with reverse jets, pressure relief valves, audible and visual high level / overfill

alarms. The silo system will also be fitted with auto shut-off systems to prevent overfilling.

Inspections will include visual inspections on the filtration plant at least monthly, weekly inspections of the pressure

relief valves, visual checks will be made at least once per shift by the operator. The time, location and result of the

checks, along with weather conditions will be recorded on the site log book. The monitoring frequency that will be

implemented is shown in Table 1 below.

Any failure of the silo management or protection system (for example, high level alarms, filter, PRV) will be fully

investigated, corrective actions identified and implemented to prevent further odour emissions.

5.1.5 Odour – the plant is located well away from the site boundary and sensitive receptors. The nearest residents

are located in Dowlow cottages (which will be around 500m from the plant) and Dowlow Farm (which is around 1km

from the plant). Consequently, it is expected that the escape of offensive odour is unlikely to cause harm or nuisance.

However, in the initial stages of plant operation, this will be monitored by Dowlow Quarry staff.

If problems arise, or odour complaints are received, extra monitoring at the boundary will be carried out and recorded,

and corrective actions identified and implemented to prevent further odour emissions.

5.2 Reporting

The regulator (High Peak Borough Council) will be kept informed of monitoring to be carried out and the results

achieved. The results will be in the form of a report, issued by the extractive sampling test body, and will include

process conditions at the time of the monitoring.

The regulator will be informed at least 7 days before any periodic monitoring exercise, details to include the

provisional time and date, pollutant to be tested and methods to be used. The results will be forwarded to the

regulator within 8 weeks of the monitoring.

Adverse results from any monitoring activity will be fully investigated, identifying the cause and appropriate corrective

actions. A re-test may be necessary to confirm compliance. The regulator will be kept informed of the re-test, actions

taken and re-test results.

5.3 Emission Limits & Monitoring

The following table, taken from the DEFRA Process Guidance Note, details the emission limits and monitoring

arrangements to be implemented:

Table 2 – Emission Limits, monitoring and other provisions

Substance Source Emission limits / provisions Type of Monitoring Monitoring Frequency Whole site and all authorised emission points 1 Visible

emissions Site No visible emissions to cross site boundary Operator observations Once a day

2 Visible emissions

All authorised emission points No abnormal emission Operator observations

3 Droplets, persistent mist, fume, smoke

All emissions to air (except steam & condensed water vapour)

No droplets, no persistent mist or fume No visible smoke except during startup of coating plant, and then no darker than Ringelmann 1

Visual observations On startup & on at least 2 more occasions during the working day

Roadstone Coating Plant 4 Particulate

Matter Roadstone coating plant – new plant and roadstone coating plant with new or replacement arrestment equipment

50 mg/m3 Continuous, quantitative – CEM Periodic, quantitative – annual monitoring

5 Sulphur dioxide All activities using heavy fuel oil or other residual type / comparable Quality Protocol Process Fuel Oil

1% wt/wt Sulphur in fuel Sulphur content of fuel is regulated under the Sulphur Content of Liquid Fuels Regulations

6 Sulphur dioxide All activities using gas oil / comparable Quality Protocol Process Fuel Oil

0.1% wt/wt Sulphur in fuel Sulphur content of fuel is regulated under the Sulphur Content of Liquid Fuels Regulations

Silos 7 Particulate

matter Silo inlets & outlets Designed to emit less than 10 mg/m3

No visible emission Operator / driver observations Record start & finish times

Every delivery

Notes *All periodic monitoring results shall be checked by the operator on receipt and sent to the Council within 8 weeks of the monitoring being undertaken. * (a) Where the plant is discharging to the external atmosphere (b) The refence conditions for limits in Table xx are: 273.1K, 101.3kPa, without correction for water vapour content © All periodic monitoring shall be representative and shall use standard methods (d) Emission limits do not apply during start-up and shut-down. All emissions shall be kept to a minimum during these periods.

5.4 Management

Dowlow Quarry is certified to ISO 9001 (Quality), ISO 14001 (Environment) and OHSAS 18001 (Health & Safety).

The written & documented management systems, to which this certification applies, will be extended to incorporate

the additional activities where appropriate, and the existing procedures and controls will continue to be implemented

to ensure that a high standard of environmental performance is maintained.

The management system implemented on-site includes written procedures covering operation, checks, and

inspections; these procedures will be audited as part of the internal and external audit processes. All staff

associated with the asphalt plant operation will be trained and competent in the execution of their duties, and records

of any such training will be held on site and available for review.

6.0 Conclusion

This application requests approval from the high Peak Borough Council for the operation of an asphalt plant, within

Dowlow Quarry. It is requested that the current environmental permit be varied to this extent. The Breedon Group is

committed to maintain the highest standards of environmental performance and are certified to ISO 14001 to support

this.

Following consideration of this variation application, it is requested that the Regulator accept this report as detailed

description of the proposal and its management, and allow the variation of Permit P21B-3/08.

End.