CEMEX Recognized with Land Stewardship Award for Environmental Efforts at California Cement Operation

Energy Resource, March 22, 2007

ENERGY RESOURCE-22 March 2007-CEMEX Recognized with Land Stewardship Award for Environmental Efforts at California Cement Operation(C)2007 JeraOne - http://www.jeraone.com

The Portland Cement Association and Cement America magazine have recognized CEMEX USA's Davenport, Calif.-based cement operation with a Land Stewardship Award.

In addition, the company's Knoxville, Tenn., location won the Innovation Award.

The Davenport plant won in the Land Stewardship category for land conservation and environmental stewardship practices on its 10,000 acres in Santa Cruz County, Calif. The plant's land restoration projects include the reclamation in the Davenport shale and limestone quarries.

"We are honored to receive this award. This is much more than a title to CEMEX and our Davenport facility. It is a pronounced way of running our operations," said Gilberto Perez, president of CEMEX USA. "For 100 years, the Davenport plant has been a guardian of the Santa Cruz north coast and 9,000 acres of forestland in the state of California. Through these practices and new ones, we intend to keep this commitment to the community and the environment."

Each year, plant employees perform habitat restoration and re-vegetation with native trees, perform exotic weed control and exotic tree removal in order to enhance growth of native habits and species. The plant retains a professional landscape architect to manage the program.

The plant also features a large forested buffer area around the quarry operation for screening and buffering the neighboring rural community.

Additionally, the CEMEX property provides special habitat for a variety of wildlife, mammals and bird species, and is home to several endangered and threatened species. CEMEX has set aside ponds and wetlands for breeding and protection areas for the California Red-legged frog.

In 2006, a portion of the proposed mining operation was determined to be a habitat for the San Francisco Dusky-Footed Woodrat, a California species of concern. CEMEX land provides a habitat area for this woodrat and also uses the area for other wildlife habitat conservation.

In 2006, the Davenport plant initiated a program that seeks certification in the Wildlife Habitat Council's Wildlife at Work program to enhance wildlife habitat on CEMEX property and to raise environmental awareness with employees and the community.

CEMEX's property also serves as a vital watershed for Davenport and New Town, providing for their raw water needs from San Vincente and Mill Creeks. Every year, CEMEX Davenport contributes $160,000 to fund half the cost for Santa Cruz County to treat the community's water and sewage, and provides up to $25,000 to fund capital projects related to the system.

Recent site beautification efforts have included enhancing the entranceway and grounds with additional flowers, shrubs and trees. Eight large storage silos were demolished to improve the aesthetics.

The Davenport cement plant was also named a finalist for the PCA's Community Outreach category for demonstrating "extraordinary efforts" in community stewardship activities undertaken in the past year, and as a finalist for the Overall Environmental Award for "exemplifying the plant's commitment to the environment and energy efficiency conservation."

The CEMEX Knoxville cement operations won in the Innovation category for successfully implementing programs to reduce NOx emissions. The CEMEX Process Technology team, led by Robin Forster, began using an old technology in a new way--injecting water into the cement kiln's burner pipes to reduce NOx. Although the application was a proven method in the power industry for years, it had never been widely used in cement kilns.

The team embarked on a series of tests and discovered that this technology not only worked in cement kilns, but it also worked "exceptionally well and could reduce NOx by 15 percent," CEMEX noted, adding that this discovery is "a major reason" the site was selected for the Innovation Award.

The team has also identified new effective methods for reducing NOx further by using recycled water from refined oil available at oil collection centers. The discarded oil normally comes from automotive shops and other businesses, but the CEMEX team has found a way to extract the water and use it successfully in the water injection technology, not only conserving water, but also helping to reduce waste products.

The material was typically disposed of at a public treatment facility, but now has a new use and helps reduce the CEMEX plant's emissions.

"These programs have resulted in environmental benefits for the plant and the community. The CEMEX team came up with innovative solutions that help conserve, recycle, reduce, and also set a great example for the industry to follow," said Perez.

For more information, visit www.cemexusa.com.

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