Residents fed up with dust from steelworks

Ted Peskett, local democracy reporter

People living in one of Cardiff’s main industrial areas say they are sick of their cars, clothes and homes being covered in dust they blame on a huge steelworks nearby.

The community of Tremorfa has lived with the Celsa Steel plant off Rover Way for decades and residents on streets like Willows Avenue, Mercia Road and Madoc Road are just hundreds of metres from the looming grey structure which often has clouds of white steam billowing out of it.

It is one of a number of industrial buildings concentrated in this corner of the city, which also includes Cardiff East Waste Water Treatment Works, Welsh Water Organic Energy, an asphalt mixing plant and a National Grid substation.

Soon to be added to this is a battery storage facility that will be one of the biggest in the world. The facility will store renewable energy to help meet the growing demand for energy across the UK.

‘Nightmare’

“It is a nightmare,” said Peter Ewers, a resident of Mercia Road, on what it’s like to live next to the steelworks.

Peter, 56, said: “Most of the time we can’t open our windows because we don’t want dust coming into the bedroom.

“It is getting ridiculous. It is getting worse and they don’t give a damn,” he claimed.

“Neighbours will tell you, if you put clothes on your washing line and leave it out over night, the next morning you are going to have to wash them again.”

Peter said he was out walking his dog one day in February or March when he saw the dust at its worst this year.

He said: “We had been over there about 20 minutes… and all we saw was [something] like a dust storm coming towards us.” He felt it was coming from the direction of the steelworks, adding, “my eyes were watering.”

Peter said he and other residents had complained about the levels of dust in the area but felt no-one was listening to their concerns.

Dust impact assessment

A dust impact assessment carried out by Earth and Marine Environmental Consultants (EAME) on behalf of Celsa Manufacturing (UK) Ltd found that there were dust emissions on site at the steelworks.

The report, published in 2022, went on to add: “The nature of the principal material (scrap metal) has generally been recognised as a material that does not generate significant dust unless it is being processed.

“The design of the shredder is such that fugitive emissions from the shredding process are effectively controlled.”

It goes on recommend a number of dust control measures as part of a dust management plan and it states that Clesa proposed the installation of monitors on the Rover Way site.

Rats

Jackie Williams said she was not badly affected by living near the steelworks as she was out most of the day for work, but she added: “We have a problem with the rats and the dust obviously.

“The windows are always dirty, the car is always dirty.”

One resident on Willows who did not want to be named said: “it is quite bad. It is filthy.

“We were out there with the dogs and that [dust]… came down and that covered my boot.

“We don’t want to see it closed, but we would like a little release from the dust.”

Debra Jones, who has been living in Mercia Road for 30 years said: “Everything gets black on a daily basis. You have got to do your [window] sills.

“The noise… doesn’t sound too bad in the day, but early in the morning you can hear the crashing and the banging.

“I don’t want people to lose their jobs because it is their livelihood, but to come [outside]… I can hear it being tipped off now.

“It is not a very pleasant thing to have, but at least we are a little bit back from it.”

Battery storage facility

Plans for a battery storage facility that will be built on land off Rover Way were approved by Cardiff Council in October.

The facility, called an energy park, will be made up of 828 battery units stored in shipping containers. It will be accompanied by a 25m high data centre.

Currently, the biggest battery storage facility is in California and that has a capacity of 875MW to store surplus solar energy.

There is a plan for a £750m facility with a capacity of 1,040MW in Manchester.

The energy park in Cardiff will have 1,000MW of storage capacity and has been largely welcomed by community leaders.

Previously a motocross track, the Rover Way site where the energy park will be was once subject to controversial plans for a wood-chipped biomass plant.

Cardiff Council ward member for Splott, Cllr Huw Thomas, said on X: “Residents in Splott [and] Tremorfa were rightly anxious a few years ago about plans to build a biomass incinerator on this site.

“Having met the developers, I’m very pleased they listened to concerns and brought forward this new scheme instead which delivers a slew of high-tech jobs.”

Many residents we spoke to in Tremorfa said they were not opposed to the plans for the new energy park as long as it doesn’t produce any emissions.

Debra Jones said: “If it goes there, it goes there. I don’t think peoples’ views are going to change anything.

“It has got to be somewhere hasn’t it?”

Dianne Elliott, who also lives on Mercia Road, said of the proposed battery facility: “It just feels as though [people say] ‘it doesn’t matter, Tremorfa is not a good area’ and they just put everything over here.

“They wouldn’t put it in Cyncoed would they?”

June Wesley, 69, said: “Well I think we have had enough over here. We have got the sewage plant, we have got this [the steelworks here] here.”

Both women also said they had noticed more rats in the area.

‘Nasty surprise’

Dianne, 60, said she was helping an old lady across the street to put her rubbish out when she had a nasty surprise.

She said: “I took the rubbish to put it out, I went to close the bag… it jumped out, just past my face.

“I was screaming.”

June had a similar experience when she stepped out of her front door to get some fresh air one day.

“I was out here,” said June as she stood next to her front door.

“And it [a rat] came out of the drain… it screamed and ran. Oh my God, I felt terrible.”

Regarding the steelworks and the dust, Dianne and June also said they didn’t want to see it close, but they both agreed that it wasn’t pleasant living next to it at times.

“Look at that for starters,” said Dianne, pointing to the steelworks.

“It is such an ugly, horrendous site to look at. It is a monstrosity.

“When they open the furnaces, it is just like a volcano and it is just grey horrible dust. In the night you can see the fires.

“The noise… in the night when it is crashing. You can hear whatever is in there and it is really loud. It is banging and crashing noises.”

Loud noises

Dianne said she heard the loud noises coming from the direction of the steel plant after 10pm. She also has an issue with dust getting on her car.

“You can write your name in it [the car],” added Dianne.

“It is terrible. It is everywhere. I clean my windows nearly every single day. I am not lying to you.”

June said: “Apart from all of the dust on the cars and everything, some days it is yellow out here.

“The noise is terrible.

“Sometimes the smell over here is absolutely disgusting.

“We don’t know whether it is coming from the sewage plant, whether it is coming from the rubbish plant… or whether it is from there [the steelworks].

“It is a nasty smell. Last week we had it.”

Celsa Steel has been manufacturing steel in Cardiff for more than 21 years since it took over from Allied Steel. The melt shop was built in 2006.

Mercia Road resident Peter Ewers said he used to work at Allied Steel. We asked him why he chose to live so close to the plant.

Peter said: “I didn’t know it would be this bad. I knew you would get some sort of smoke coming out of the steelworks, but not as bad as this.”

Celsa Steel UK has been approached for a comment.