Just to keep this proposed mass burn incinerator topical :-
The County Council it seems did not really consider alternatives to an incinerator in any depth. They invited bids from selected companies to deal with Cornwall's waste and it seems all of those companies preferred incineration as the means of dealing with our waste. They finished up with two preferred bidders and settled on Sita, a French company. Not only have they sold us down the river on the incinerator idea but the profit for the thing will be going to France. The decision by the CC to go down the incinerator route was made on 17th.January but my information is that it was far from a democratic process. Some speakers from mid Cornwall that are opposed to an incinerator were not allowed to speak. Incinerators in England commit hundreds of pollution offences every year by discharging more poison than is legally permitted. Greenpeace examined the records of ten plants, and found 546 violations of pollution laws during 1999 and 2000. Yet only one prosecution was incurred for this period. By the way a violation is when the emissions have been above the permitted legal level for more than 12 minutes. There could be 20 x 10 minutes of excess emissions but this would not be a violation.
Below is a list of just some of the emissions from an incinerator. Defra tell us that they monitor emissions from incinerators but what they don't tell us is that they only monitor half of the known emissions. How do you fancy your family breathing in this little lot.
Seriously though, did you hear on the Today program this morning about the coal-fired power station that was so clean that it was in the middle of an alligator reserve? Its only emissions are CO2, and they are looking at ways to trap and bury that. If a coal-fired poiwer station can have zero emissions, so could an incinerator if they put their minds to it.
Even if it could be proven that the emissions from an incinerator are safe ( which I doubt ) it just doesn't make sense to be burning valuable resources.
My view is an incinerator will have emissions no matter how good they say it is. The emission filtering socks will not catch all the bad stuff and like a lot of industry, what is supposed to happen doesn't actually happen. How often will the socks be cleaned or changed ? Not as often as they should be I'll bet.
A recent study by the National Society for Clean Air (NSCA) suggests that the potential for health impacts from modern incineration plants is so low as to be negligible. This report has been slammed, partly for being un-referenced and unscientific, but also because the NSCA is composed of and funded by incinerator companies.
And what are the facts? I'm sure "they" could indeed produce a zero-emission incinerator if "they" put their minds to it. It's cost and govt indifference that stop it happening.
The facts ?...above are 546 facts that we should be worried about.
Chineham in Hampshire were saddled with a new incinerator in 2001 and the Parish council there have reported many occurances of visible emissions, smell and particulates. We are all only custodians of Cornwall. We should not be committing our children and grandchildren to a 30 year future of incineration causing increased occurances of asthma. cancer and possibly birth defects. Dioxin emissions once into the food chain and the human body just do not go away. It shows the confidence the authorities have in their boast about incinerator emissions when it has been stated that all cattle on farms in close proximity to an incinerator will be tested regularly for dioxins.
Cornwall needs maximum reduction of non-organic/non-recyclable waste generation at source to minimise the need for further landfill/incineration.
Incineration or 'waste to power' on the scale proposed at St Dennis, or any other site, requires the maintenance of a steady,reliable and even increasing input of non-organic/non-recyclable material for sustained/exponential corporate profitability.
What kind of business plan would stand up on the forecast of declining supplies of 'fuel' that would result from a truly responsible,determined and ecologically sound waste management strategy?
TeamKernow is right. Manufacturers and retailers need to reduce packaging and the packaging there is should be recyclable and clearly labelled what the packaging is made of and how to recycle it. This coupled with composting and re-using would have a great effect on the amount of waste left over that has to be dealt with thus rendering an incinerator redundant. The fact is that our wonderful County Council has committed the people of Cornwall to a 30 year future of incineration without really looking at viable alternatives or consulting the people of Cornwall about what they want for Cornwall. Public, government and world views are changing to a more 'green' viewpoint and in a few years time the idea of building an incinerator will be frowned upon. If this monster goes ahead Cornwall will be paying for an outlawed white elephant for 30 years. I urge you to stand up and support all anti incinerator groups. There is a meeting at St.Dennis on the 15th. Feb and at Roche on the 9th. March.
Govman - could you put up the full details and locations of those meetings?
The St Dennis contingent input has been intelligent, well researched and cogently argued to date. It was a hairsbreadth vote at Cornwall 'County' Council. With determination and stamina best outcomes can still be achieved.
An immediate and total embargo on housing new build, a comprehensive audit of Cornwall's total housing resources and usage followed by the implementation of policies and strategies leading to its proper use for full time residence by the families and young people of Kernow to enable the creation and consolidation of a viable year round economy would also be a most constructive and socially beneficial way forward.
Finite space = Finite capacity
Finite water supply=Finite sustainable population threshold
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