The plant that burns Blair's rubbish is putting Britain's children at risk
27.02.2002 08:17 | Ecology | Health
A team of Greenpeace volunteers have shut-down and occupied Britain's flagship waste incinerator in south London to protect the health of Britain's children. The SELCHP plant in Lewisham, which burns rubbish from several London boroughs as well as the Houses of Parliament and Downing Street, routinely releases dioxin chemicals which the World Health Organisation classifies as causing cancer. The Government has already admitted that one in three Britons are taking in the maximum amount of dioxin which is considered 'safe' and more than half of British babies and toddlers are exceeding this limit. Since Monday 25th Feb, Greenpeace volunteers have sealed the chimney flues and pledged to occupy the plant until Onyx - the French multi-national which runs the incinerator - shut operations for good. Lewisham Council, which plays host to SELCHP, has estimated that it could recycle 92% of its waste but in fact recycles only 4%. As of Wednesday 27th nine activists are still defying teams of climbing bailiffs trying to remove them.
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