BY NADIA NTIAMOAH
The Environmental Protection Authority, EPA, has ordered Empire Cement Ghana Limited to submit a comprehensive relocation plan within 30 days, maintaining that a closure notice issued against the company remains in force over concerns about the plant’s location near residential communities and the environmentally sensitive Densu Delta Ramsar Site.
The EPA has intensified regulatory pressure on Empire Cement Ghana Limited, directing the company to prepare to relocate its cement grinding and bagging facility from its current location near the Densu Delta Ramsar Site.
In a directive dated October 28, 2026, and signed by the EPA’s Chief Executive Officer, Professor Nana Ama Browne Klutse, the Authority gave the company 30 days to submit a detailed relocation strategy and operational transition plan.
The directive, sighted by Citi News, reaffirmed that a Closure Notice issued to Empire Cement on September 14, 2026, remained in force, warning against any unauthorised resumption of operations while the notice was still effective.
The latest action brings renewed attention to a long-running regulatory dispute over the suitability of the company’s location, with concerns involving environmental protection, public health, flooding and the movement of heavy-duty vehicles through surrounding communities.
The EPA’s position is that the facility’s location presents land-use compatibility concerns that must be addressed through relocation to an appropriate industrial area.
EPA’s Concerns Date Back to 2020
The regulatory concerns surrounding Empire Cement’s operations date back to June 2020, when the EPA first directed the company to halt construction and identify an alternative location.
According to the Authority, the proposed facility was considered incompatible with the surrounding land use, given its proximity to residential settlements, Panbros Salt Industries Limited and the Densu Delta Ramsar Site.
The Densu Delta is an environmentally sensitive wetland area, making the location of industrial activities in its vicinity a matter of environmental concern.
Subsequent environmental assessments, according to the EPA, reinforced the Authority’s concerns about the suitability of large-scale cement manufacturing in the area.
The assessments identified potential public health implications, flooding risks and the movement of heavy-duty vehicles through nearby communities as issues requiring attention.
Environmental Permit Did Not End Relocation Concerns
Empire Cement obtained an Environmental Permit in October 2023. However, the permit reportedly required the company to submit a decommissioning plan and relocate before the permit expired.
The EPA subsequently varied the permit conditions in January 2024 following ministerial intervention.
Nevertheless, the Authority maintains that the fundamental concerns surrounding public health, flooding and heavy-vehicle traffic were not resolved by the changes to the permit conditions.
This distinction is central to the latest regulatory action: the existence of an environmental permit did not, according to the EPA’s account, eliminate the requirement to address the facility’s location.
The renewed enforcement action also follows petitions from residents’ associations in the Weija-Gbawe area to the President and the Minister for Environment, Science and Technology.
The petitions contributed to renewed calls for regulatory intervention over the plant’s location and its potential implications for surrounding communities.
However, the directive does not, in the information provided, establish that every identified risk has resulted in documented harm. Rather, the EPA’s stated concerns form the basis of its position that relocation is necessary.
