Public Inquiry - Next Week

The public inquiry into plans to expand Nottingham's Eastcroft Incinerator will start next week and run for three weeks, Tuesday to Friday each week. We have submitted all of our evidence and are now preparing for the inquiry start.

Although the main bodies involved with the inquiry are the City Council, Waste Recycling Group (WRG) and NAIL, members of the public and interested parties are allowed to and encouraged to take part.

The inquiry will be held at The Hilton Hotel, 38 Milton Street, Nottingham, NG1 2PZ (next to Vic Centre). It starts on Tuesday 9 September at 9am. Please come along to at least the start and support us if you can. If you want to speak at the inquiry yourselves, this is welcomed but you will need to attend the first day and make your position known to the inspectorate.

Further Pollution Breaches

Waste Recycling Group have again shown utter contempt by reporting two further pollution breaches within two weeks. On July 8 carbon monoxide (CO) released into the atmosphere exceeded the permitted limit for 30 minutes, two weeks later carbon in bottom ash also exceeded permitted levels.

Although carbon in ash and carbon monoxide in the flue gasses in themselves are not of great concern, the levels are a measure of the performance of the incinerators. A poorly performing incinerator will produce more of these levels as complete combustion is not achieved, along with other more toxic poisons. Therefore during these periods the incinerator would not be performing effectively and many toxic poisons not being monitored would be released into the atmosphere where they will ultimately be consumed by the public.

These breaches follow an enforcement notice and formal warning issued to WRG by the Environment Agency (EA) after unfiltered emissions were released on two separate occasions earlier this year. The enforcement notice required WRG to undertake a comprehensive review of its maintenance programme for its flue gas treatment system. WRG failed to provide the EA with evidence that critical temperature monitoring equipment had been maintained.

Despite this action from the EA, it is obvious that WRG have utter contempt for the regulator as they do for our health as they continue to operate this incinerator with incompetence.