Norbord pledges to monitor sawdust levels at Cowie, Scotland, plant after residents complain of dust deposits on houses, cars; company traces dust to chimney stack, says levels were from 'normal permitted activities'

Wendy Lisney

LOS ANGELES , September 19, 2013 (Industry Intelligence) – Norbord Inc. has pledged to monitor sawdust levels after residents living near the company's MDF and particleboard plant in Cowie, Scotland, complained of dust deposits on their houses and cars.

The company launched an investigation, and traced the source to a chimney stack, the Stirling Observer reported on Sept. 19.

A Norbord spokesman said the company took its responsibilities very seriously as a key employer within the community, and regretted any impact. He said the mill emits small quantities of sawdust in any normal operation which are closely monitored by officials on site and by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA).

The spokesman said Norbord had notified SEPA when the complaints were received and an investigation had concluded that the sawdust levels were from normal permitted activities.

SEPA said it had asked Norbord to carry out additional monitoring to confirm the amount of dust that was being released. Norbord noted that it had undertaken a number of improvements during the summer to minimize wind-blown dust emissions and had scheduled further improvements to other areas of the site.

The primary source of this article is the Stirling Observer, Stirling, Scotland, U.K., on Sept. 18, 2013.

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