Green Party national leader Natalie Bennett addressed a packed Randwick village hall on Wednesday and heard concerns about the incinerator and the rising issue of “no safe levels” for air pollutants.
Independent predictions undertaken on the emissions from the proposed Javelin Park chimney or “stack” by Plumeplotter (using AIRMOD modelling software) question whether the original safety assurances for the Incinerator can be relied upon. Plumeplotter predicts where the emissions from the stack will fall, indicating potential health and economic threats to Gloucestershire caused by nitrogen dioxides and PMs (microscopic airborne particles that can carry dioxins and heavy metals into our lungs and into the soil).
Natalie Bennett, Leader of the Green Party, said ‘it seems crazy that the County Council is still going ahead with the incinerator when there appear to be much cheaper and greener alternatives.”
Green Party waste and recycling expert Chris Harmer, who addressed the meeting, said ‘It is extremely worrying that we have software predictions for where pollution from the proposed incinerator at Javelin Park will fall, but very few actual field measurements around incinerators to confirm the predictions. How will our hills, complicated valley patterns and variable winds affect actual pollution? Although Plumeplotter shows the pollution from the incinerator would be within legal limits, there is a rising tide of opinion that there are no ‘safe’ levels of air pollutants, and we await a much delayed, important academic report commissioned by Public Health England, which we hope will shed more light on this. Meanwhile, we are looking at the possibility of independent local air quality monitoring at vulnerable sites such as schools and care homes.”
Green Party County Councillor Sarah Lunnon said “the ‘Plumeplotter’ data and the existence of cheaper, greener alternatives to incineration raise serious questions about the viability of the Javelin Park proposal. GCC has kept financial details of the incinerator contract from ordinary taxpayers and councillors, but have now been instructed to reveal the details. The sky didn’t fall in when details of Norfolks Incinerator contract were released: it’s time those who paid the bill took a look at the invoice.”
Green Party District Councillor Jonathan Edmonds who organised the meeting and represents Randwick, a village identified as being within the zone of pollution, said “As the father of two young children I worry for their future well-being. The worldwide Volkswagen scandal has brought into question the whole issue of whether any pre-operation testing or figures from incinerators will bear any relationship to the actual level of pollution that will be emitted for the next 25 years, and its impact on our beautiful county.”
Representatives of the CR4C project also attended the meeting to present their proposal for a MBHT (Mechanical, Biological and Heat Treatment) plant which they say could process our waste far more cheaply than the incinerator, extracting recyclates from our waste and reducing harmful emissions.