About 150 people attended the public meeting held in Cornwall on Thursday 22nd January 2009. The meeting, Chaired by Restormel Council’s Environment Portfolio Holder Fred Greenslade, was held at the St Dennis Working Men’s Club. Billed as an Environment Agency Public Meeting Regarding the Granting of an Environmental Permit for the Proposed Sita Incinerator in St Dennis, the panel consisted of Environment Agency Officers: Judy Proctor (Environment Manager Cornwall), David Mudge (Technical Officer), Kevin Baker (Public Relations) and Chris James (Team Leader), along with Councillor Dick Cole, and the Chair of STIG (St.Dennis Incinerator Group) Ken Rickard.
STIG was singled out for praise by the Environment Agency (EA). Minutes from the meeting [available to download as a .pdf file]record Judy Proctor’s statement regarding the EA’s appreciation and respect for STIG’s Response to Permit Application.
STIG have done tremendous work and produced fabulous documents. They are a credit to the community.
The minutes of the meeting give some insights into the Environment Agency’s approach to Environmental Permitting. While many questions were answered, and issued raised were addressed, many questions still remain. Questions regarding the poor performance of the Isle of Man incinerator, for example. Questions also persist regarding the EA’s role as statutory consultees on planning matters, alongside their responsibilities as regulators.
During the 3-hour-long meeting many questions were asked. STIG Secretary Patricia Blanchard called attention to the following:
The Environment Agency have made it clear that STIG’s response to SITA’s application for a Pollution Permit, is the most thorough and well presented document they have ever received. They also say it will be used to inform National Policy. This confirms that , as important as they are, our concerns go far beyond just local issues.
There are 60 Incinerators currently proposed in the UK. Their CO2 emissions alone, at nearly a tonne for every tonne of waste burned, will have massive implications for Climate Change. This is one of the major reason that organisations like Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace, as well as STIG, are opposed to Incineration.
Burning valuable resources, which have, literally cost the Earth in creation, extraction, processing, transport and production does not help society to live within environmental limits but perpetuates a cycle of destruction and unsustainable consumption, in a world of shrinking resources.
No ‘dirty’ MRFs are in SITA’s provision, so any recyclable materials concealed amongst other waste will be incinerated. In SITA’s Environmental permit application (page A8, Volume 3) we read that
“The facility will produce electricity from the combustion of mixed residual municipal waste which will, in general, comprise solid materials with a minimal liquid content such as: plastic, paper and cardboard; textiles; food waste; wood; glass; inert substances and metals”.This amounts to an admission that the proposed incinerator would rely on feedstock which could and should be recycled.
You can read the minutes to learn more about what was said.
And don’t miss the baloon photos available from the STIG website!
