away from its Rugby works. The fine was the highest ever given under the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control regulations, and was also the highest for an Environment Agency prosecution for six years. The fine was, however, judged excessive by the Court of Appeal and so reduced to £50,000. In April 2007, CEMEX announced that it had installed a £6.5 million dust abatement system at the same works in Rugby, which had cut particulate emissions by 80%. The site comes under the auspices of the EU Waste Incineration Directive as it burns waste tires for fuel. There are concerns over the impact on both the environment and human health from this practice, although it is common practice in many cement works. In 2021 CEMEX announced investments in Europe to promote an environmentally-friendly “circular economy,” safely using waste as a substitute for fossil fuels, including in its Rugby plant. During tests conducted from June 10 to August 5, 2008, the Monterey Bay (California) Unified Air Pollution Control District reported high levels of chromium VI, also known as hexavalent chromium, a cancer causing chemical agent, at an elementary school and fire department in Davenport, California. Chromium VI is the contaminant that inspired the movie, Erin Brockovich. The toxic substance apparently originated from dust emitted by the Cemex Cement plant in Davenport, as the levels of Chromium VI measured eight times the air district's acceptable level at Pacific Elementary School and 10 times at the Davenport Fire Department. Both are located less than a half-mile from CEMEX. Chromium VI may have been unwittingly produced at the CEMEX plant in Davenport for the last seven years. According to Ed Kendig, the executive director of the Monterey Bay Unified Air Pollution Control District, it's "highly possible" that Chromium VI continues to be produced across the country as an accidental, previously unknown byproduct of the cement-making process. In 2007, the EPA filed a complaint against CEMEX for violating federal air regulations at its Victorville plant, and in 2006, CEMEX was cited for violations at plants in Santa Barbara and Michigan. Cemex had a sand mining operation in the city of Marina, California along the Monterey Bay coastline that concerned environmentalists and scientists. The California Coastal Commission in March 2016 issued a Cease and Desist order asking for "administration civil penalties" stating that "the operation is narrowing beaches and impacting environmentally sensitive habitat." Cemex denied the allegations