Protest group say there’s still time left to speak out about incinerator

WESTBURY group WGAG/No Westbury Incinerator  is urging local people to have their say over the proposed waste incinerator for Westbury, with a decision likely to be made by Wiltshire Council very soon.

The say, “Two processes that will help determine the permission to place and operate the incinerator complex at the edge of our town are currently happening simultaneously in the back rooms of decision makers in Wiltshire Council and also at the Environmental Agency (the EA). 

“Firstly: As to whether the project will actually be approved or denied ‘planning permission’ is a matter for Wiltshire Council’s ‘Strategic Planning Committee’ (SPC) and we must assume that they will give us the allocated, seven days notice of appearance on the agenda soon! (The next meetings are scheduled for Feb 24th & March 24th).

“Secondly: The Environment Agency (EA) are now seeking ‘your comments’ to help ascertain as to whether they can, or should issue  an operational licence to Northacre Renewable Energy Ltd’ (a subsidiary of the Hills Group). 

“WGAG/NWI (and others) have been successful in extending this consultation process until Sunday the 21st of February which means that you still have plenty of time to make a big difference.”  

WGAG/ NWI is a group made up of over 1,500 community members.

They explain, “Officially, the EA can take account of:

• Relevant environmental regulatory requirements and technical standards.

• Information on local population and sensitive sites.

• Comments on whether the right process is being used for the activity, for example whether the technology is the right one.

• The shape and use of the land around the site in terms of its potential impact, whether that impact is acceptable and what pollution control or abatement may be required.

• The impact of noise and odour from traffic on site.

• Permit conditions by providing information that we have not been made aware of in the application, or by correcting incorrect information in the application (e.g. monitoring and techniques to control pollution).

The group says they wish to focus on three areas:- a) Proximity to the town b) The danger of ‘temperature inversion’  c) Safety issues over operation of the plant. 

 They say, “Too many people are living far too close!

“As the photograph (kindly taken by local councillor Michael J Amos) clearly shows, the proposed site is overlooking our significant population of 18,000 ‘human receptors’ (the term used to describe ‘people’ in these health & safety related reports) but curiously very few actual people show up as a concern in the documentation supplied to support the application! 

“It may be useful to mark your position, postcode and comments to let the EA know that this not inconsiderable fact relates to many of their criteria above! 

“Any ‘Topology’ used must relate to Westbury and be thorough. The EA must be made aware that Westbury’s topology (i.e. location and lay of the land) is not the same as Lyneham, the location example for data used by the applicant.  As a result, many factors will differ from their supplied example. 

“One such is the known phenomenon of ‘temperature inversion’ to have a considerable effect on the behaviour of any pollutant plume in the vicinity, such as an incinerator for example, or historically speaking, the ‘Blue Circle / Lafarge Cement works’ 

“With regard to what is likely to be in those emissions, ‘The Human Health Risk Assessment (HHRA) bizarrely concluded that “the health effects associated with emissions of NO2, SO2, PM10 and PM2.5 from the ERF are shown to be very small and could reasonably be described as negligible.”  But it should be noted that this does not mean that there will be no impact on human health associated with emissions from the operation because 

“In 2013, the World Health Organisation (WHO) concluded that “There is no evidence of a safe level of exposure to PM (particulate matter) or a threshold below which no adverse health effects occur.”

The group has also raised issues over safety of operation of the plant, which they outline on their group Facebook page.

 They say, “Submissions to the Environment Agency can be made via the online portal here https://consult. environment-agency.gov.uk/psc/ ba13-4we-northacre-renewable-energy-limited/

“We believe they can also be made by email to: pscpublicresponse@environment-agency.gov.uk

“You should start your email with the words: ‘Westbury Incinerator Permit – BA13 4WE’ (We would suggest that you request a confirmation of email received if you submit this way)

“Please join our WGAG/NWI  Facebook Group if you do that sort of thing!”