Council won't wait for new incinerator health study

“Standishgreen is correct on his assessment of the NES Avonmouth Plant.
Detailed costing information has been provided for an identical 150-200 tpa capacity waste plant in Avonmouth, Bristol, a Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT) plant, including Energy from Waste (EfW), operated by New Earth Solutions for the South West of England Waste Partnership. This included the capital investment and operational costs, the later provided in answer to three public questions to Bristol City Council in Sept. 2012 - please see below. County Council Officers have been disputing the costs of alternative waste technologies in official press releases with no evidence or references provided and continually hide behind three statements, 'the process has been technology neural', that information is 'commercial in confidence' and more recently that 'the commercial contract is decoupled from planning'.

Bristol City Council – 18th September 2012, public question pq14, Cllr G. Hopkins, Cabinet Member for Environment, question on waste policy and costs - https://http://tinyurl.com/d7ws9u6

Alternative UK technology developed by New Earth Solutions has been proven in operation by other councils, it massively out performs incineration on cost and NO harmful poisons putting children in danger. Many studies in the past proved the link between incinerators and increased cancers, don't believe me then google Prof. Elliott harmful effects of incineration.
cllr Ian Bickerton
01242 250473”

“"The HPA have failed to monitor health impacts of incinerators.

In Aug 2003, the newly-formed Health Protection Agency promised to examine health data around incinerators & landfill sites due to public concern. But they didn't bother, & were exposed in two Surrey papers on 22 May 2008, Dorking Advertiser & Surrey Mirror.

The above articles resulted from a Freedom of Information request to the HPA, asking for a list of incinerators around which they'd examined rates of illness & rates of premature deaths (at all ages) in electoral wards upwind & downwind of incinerators. The HPA admitted that they'd not checked the data around any incinerator & yet they still continued to tell people that there weren't any significant health risks. This has led councillors across the country to accept the HPA's "wisdom" and give incinerators the "green light" . Belatedly the HPA have now announced a new study but this will not report until 2014 and is likely to be another whitewash, given past form."”

“standishgreen - check the facts about the Avonmouth gasifier - capacity, when/if it will come on stream, technology, overall carbon footprint, etc, and additional costs. Not saying GCC are not duffers when it comes to developing such projects but don't float misguided notions about waste to energy plants, emissions, and economics, etc to further your political goals, beyond the depths of most in the Glosvain's Green circle.”

“Cllr Waddington is on the record as saying that the HPA is undertaking the research to reassure the public. One of his many classic misrepresentations. The study is to find the facts insofar as that is possible. Once they have, they may not be at all reassuring to the public.
In similar style, the great man tells us once again that NES export their RDF to be incinerated. Never mentions that they do so only until their own facility at Avonmouth is completed or, that the reason there's a market for RDF across the North Sea is because that they have the same over capacity he intends creating here.
A combination of Blair's cabinet system and EU regulations allowing secrecy in anything remotely commercial will continue to prevent any real democratic oversight of local authority decision making.
As privatisation continues apace, we will all be reduced to seeking redress for rotten goods and services via the consumer protection pages of our daily paper. No wonder it is so difficult to get people to engage with politics. They rarely make a difference to any of the issues affecting most peoples lives and when they do get a biggy to sort out - they get it wrong.”

“The HPA's current position states that 'well run and regulated modern municipal waste incinerators are not a significant risk to public health'.
TRANSLATION:
There is a risk but we don't care as we've fumbled and bumbled this issue and shown we have no idea what to do with the waste. Now we'll take whatever comes along to get off the hook of incompetence.”