The Environment Agency (EA) is inviting comments on Veolia’s proposed Newhaven Incinerator permit application. The EA is planning to re-issue a Pollution Prevention and Control (PPC) Permit to Veolia South Downs Ltd for its proposed incinerator at Newhaven. People have until 20th August to send their comments to the Environment Agency. The EA is obliged to consider all comments before making their decision.

The EA’s November 2006 decision to issue a permit was subject to a successful legal challenge that focussed on the need to consider carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.

According to the Eastbourne Herald although the Environment Agency believed that its decision was substantially correct, it recognised that the accompanying document to explain the decision could have set out the reasons more fully and agreed to the permit being quashed by the High Court in December 2007.

Now the Environment Agency believes that the CO2 emissions from the incinerator have been properly considered, and a full explanation of that consideration has been given; it is therefore minded to issue a new permit. “We did not explain fully enough how we reached our decisions on CO2 emissions and global warming,” explained Chris Wick, environment manager for the Agency. “Now we have set out our reasons more clearly, we are giving those who have any remaining concerns time to have their say, and we will consider any comments carefully before we finalise our decision.”

Copies can be seen at the Environment Agency office in Chatsworth Road, Worthing, Newhaven Library and Lewes District Council offices.
They can also been viewed on-line.

Also see Veolia’s arguments (a reply to which could form the basis of your comments to the EA), available from Defenders of the Ouse Valley and Estuary (DOVE). DOVE has archived two useful documents relating to “Schedule 4″, the Environment Agency’s right to request more information regarding the Pollution Prevention and Control (PPC) permit. They are:

Comments should be sent to Simon Holbrook at the Environment Agency, Richard Fairclough, House, Knutsford Road, Warrington,WA4 1HG.

In related news, local anti-incineration activists have expressed disappointment at the High Court’s decision to grant planning permission for the proposals. Alison Walters, spokesperson for Lewes District Friends of the Earth, is reported as saying:

Local people don’t want this blight on the environment to be built in our back yard. Incineration wastes valuable resources that could be recycled or composted, and contributes to climate change through greenhouse gas emissions.

Reacting to the court’s decision, Phil Michaels, head of legal at Friends of the Earth, said:

We are disappointed the High Court did not accept that the decision to approve the Newhaven incinerator was unlawful. We are still very concerned that this incinerator will prevent the achievement of recycling targets. We will now carefully consider the Court’s judgement before deciding whether there are grounds to appeal.

In obtaining planning permission for the incinerator Veolia faced difficulties due to the immense public dissatisfaction with the proposals. East Sussex County Council received more than 15,000 letters containing objections from local residents and public authorities concerned with the environmental implications of the project.

According to Recycling & Waste World News (RWN), Veolia reiterated that recycling was their priority and that the Newhaven site would only process materials that could not otherwise be recycled to generate electricity.

However Shlomo Dowen of the UK Without Incineration Network (UKWIN) told RWW that he hoped that there would be no incinerator in Lewes, but if it does go ahead, the community should do all it can to starve the incinerator of residual waste. He said:

The community should improve recycling and composting thereby starving the incinerator of waste. I hope that there is not enough household waste for the incinerator to burn. This indeed happened to an incinerator in Sheffield. There was a major shortfall of household waste and now Veolia are applying to Sheffield City Council to permit them to burn waste from further afield.