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25th.May 2011 |
11th. November 2008
MYSTERY surrounds the butchering of a huge area of land last week in the Clay Country.
The stretch of land, which is around a mile long and the width of a dual carriageway, was covered in bushes and trees but was cut down by workmen last week.
Local incinerator protesters claim that the area between Treviscoe and Indian Queens is where a 'haul road' for the proposed plant would run.
The private land is owned by Imerys, but a spokesman said the company had nothing to do with the work.
"The county council had to do a survey of that land before they would be given permission to use that strip as a haul road for the incinerator, because ecology surveys need to be carried out," he said.
He suggested that Cornwall County Council might have been carrying out pre-site investigation work.
Residents are distraught at the size of the piece of land which has been cleared, claiming it was an important environmental area for wildlife.
The land lies behind a tall row of fir trees on the road which leads from Treviscoe towards the A30.
They have described the area as a bomb site, with all the growth flattened to the ground and tree stumps and overgrowth scattered around.
St Dennis Parish Council chairman Fred Greenslade said the land had been decimated and wanted answers.
As the Guardian went to press no one was available from Cornwall County Council to comment on the work.
Patricia Blanchard from St Dennis, who opposes the plans to build an incinerator, said: "It is terrible to see such damage, how could they destroy so much.
"We've been told Cornwall County Council were only given permission to do some strimming, so they could put survey pegs in, but they've cut down tress and flattened everything in a 100ft swathe. It's an act of sheer vandalism."
7th.May 2008
Even more people are taking
it upon themselves to campaign against the proposed incinerator - and the
latest are MAD grannies who took to the streets of St Austell town centre
on Thursday.
Mad grannies, standing for Making A Difference, formed due to a shared interest
- of protecting their grandchildren, and others that live in St Dennis.Between
them, they have eight grandchildren in the village, with a further five who
visit regularly, and don't want them to live in the shadow of the SITA run,
Energy From Waste, incinerator.
One of the four grannies, Pat Blanchard, said: "We don't want 240,000
tonnes of rubbish burned next to the gardens and parks where our grandchildren
play. We don't want a 400ft chimney spewing out toxins over their homes and
school.
7th.May 2008
10th.October 2007
Campaigners battling against plans for an energy-from-waste
incinerator in Clay Country have urged councillors to listen to health concerns
about the plans.Members of St Dennis Incinerator Group (STIG) went to County
Hall, Truro, yesterday morning to hand councillors copies of a DVD which outlines
health concerns about incinerators.
The group has been campaigning against plans to build a single, energy-from-waste
plant in Cornwall to deal with all the county's waste.
The plans are a major part of a waste contract for the county which was awarded
to Sita last year.
The DVD handed to councillors was of a film of a public meeting held earlier
this year by STIG which featured a presentation by Dr Dick Van Steenis, an
industrial emissions expert, who has carried out research into the impact of
incinerators on the health of those who live nearby or in the path of emissions.
STIG campaigners Jackie Salmon and Jean Amos were at County Hall yesterday
and said in a statement: "We are keen to get his message to as many people
as we can. Time is running out and we hope that this DVD will help councillors
see that it is a worry, not only for the people of St Dennis and the surrounding
areas, but for the whole of Cornwall.
"Sita Cornwall UK and the county council have tried to discredit Dr Van
Steenis saying that he is scaremongering. If this is the case why won't they
let him come and talk to the councillors? They are, after all, grown-ups who
are capable of making up their own minds.
"All the figures Dr Van Steenis uses are based on information gathered
from the primary care trusts in the areas where there are already incinerators.
In every case the figures show higher rates of infant mortality, cancers and
many more illnesses downwind of the incinerators. In some cases these infant
deaths are in the leafy suburbs and affluent areas.
"All STIG asks is that councillors take the time out to look at this DVD
and make up their own minds - not toe the party line and do as they are told.
After all, we the people voted them in to represent us not what they think
is best for the party."
Tonight STIG is hosting a public screening of the DVD at St Dennis Primary
School. The event starts at 7pm and is open to all.
The film can also be viewed on the group's website at www.st-ig.co.uk
23rd.may 2007
More than 120 people were at Cornwall College
on Friday night for a public meeting organised to hear scientist Dr Dick Van
Steenis talk about his research on the effects of incinerators. The meeting
had been organised by campaigners in St Dennis who are fighting the plans for
an energy from waste plant which is earmarked for a site near the village.But
this meeting saw people from all over Cornwall going to hear about the possible
effects of an incinerator in the county. This is something that the St Dennis
Incinerator Group (STIG) has been looking for for some time - support from
around the county and not just in and around Clay Country.
The incinerator is something that will affect the entire county and it should
be something that is an issue for everyone and not just those who may be living
in the shadow of it.
It is encouraging, therefore, that more people are taking notice of what is
going on in the county and trying to find out more about it. Perhaps Sita might
want to also make everyone more aware of its plans and speak to the entire
county, and not just those who pester it for information.
23rd.May 2007
A government adviser has warned of the danger
to public health posed by waste incinerators.A public meeting held at Cornwall
College in St Austell on Friday was organised by the St Dennis Incinerator
Group (STIG) and attracted around 120 people from all over Cornwall and as
far afield as Penzance.
STIG is campaigning against plans by French waste management company Sita to
build a waste incinerator plant in St Dennis.
Dr Dick Van Steenis, who is an adviser to a House of Commons select committee
on air pollution, told the meeting pollutants from the incinerator would affect
people living in Newquay and Bodmin, as well as St Austell, depending on wind
direction.
Dr Van Steenis said: "The danger comes from the particles released into
the atmosphere. They are of a size where they can be easily inhaled into the
lungs where they lodge and cause damage to the body."
Dr Van Steenis said the greatest danger comes from small particles known as
PM2.5, which are particularly dangerous to youngsters.
"New-born babies are more likely to succumb to damage from chemical pollutants
in these inhaled particles," he said. "Around every single incinerator
infant mortality rates, asthma rates and autism are sky-high."
In addition Dr Van Steenis said the effect of pollution would be all the greater
in the St Dennis area, where there were already a power station, waste tip
and china clay industry.
Cornwall County Council last year awarded the £500 million contract for
dealing with the county's waste to Sita. As part of the contract, the company
was asked to find alternative ways to deal with waste to stop using landfill
sites which are reaching capacity.
Sita has said a main part of its plans will be to build and operate an energy
from waste plant in Cornwall, with St Dennis as the preferred site.
Sita has so far refused STIG's request for a public meeting to allow residents
to air their views about the proposals.
STIG has enlisted the support of St Austell MP Matthew Taylor. Mr Taylor, who
lives in St Dennis, attended Friday's meeting and said a public inquiry was
necessary.
"People ought to have the opportunity to ask questions," he said.
But Sita has hit back at claims that incinerators are dangerous, and said modern
energy from waste incinerators posed a negligible threat to health.
In addition Sita say emission limits for such plants are stricter than for
any other plant type, including conventional power stations, and insisted they
were the next best thing to recycling.
Sita said its findings were backed up by a government review into the health
effects of incineration published in 2004, as well as a paper from the Health
Protection Agency.
A spokesman said: "Although Sita is involved in the full range of waste
treatment systems internationally, their considered opinion is that an incinerator
to supply energy from waste is the best solution for Cornwall."
STIG spokeswoman Jackie Salmon said the group would continue to collect evidence
to support its objections.
She said: "Sita has not yet submitted a planning application, but when
it does we hope residents from across the county will support us and oppose
it.
"Friday's meeting was very encouraging and showed we are not the only
people who fear the consequences of what is proposed."
Wednesday 29th. November 2006
Residents of Cornwall who think incineration is safe should look at the different average infant mortality rates in electoral wards that are upwind and downwind of Sita's Kirklees incinerator which exploded in September.
The "upwind" wards of Holme Valley North, Holme Valley South, Crosland
Moor and Netherton, Golcar, Greenhead and Denby Dale had a total of 3,715 live
births recorded in the three year 2003-5 and 13 infant deaths during the same
period, giving an infant mortality rate of 3.5 deaths per 1,000 live births.
The "downwind" wards of Dewsbury (East, West and South), Batley (East
and West), Birstall and Birkenshaw, and Mirfield had a total 5.560 live births
and 55 infant deaths during the same three year period, giving an infant mortality
rate of 9.9 deaths per 1,000 live births.
Sita also operates Edmonton Incinerator (North London) which adversely affects
at least three London Boroughs. Chingford Green ward (Waltham Forest) had
an infant mortality rate of 17.1 per 1,000 and was the highest in that borough
during 2003-5. Ponders End ward (Enfield) is adjacent to Chingford Green
and had the highest infant mortality rate in that borough at 12.5 per 1,000.
Northumberland Park ward (Haringey) is the closest ward in that borough to
Edmonton incinerator and also had the highest infant mortality rate in that
borough at 15.6 per 1,000.
More information on incinerators can be found at www.ukhr.org.
I've examined infant mortality rates around 15 incinerators, two power stations,
two oil refineries, one cement works and a foundry and found the same pattern
in every case, i.e. higher infant mortality rates in the downwind wards compared
to upwind.
S.T.I.G. Footnote :-
Michael Ryan, Chartered Civil Engineer became interested in health issues after realising that the deaths of two of his children could have been caused by emissions from nearby Shrewsbury Hospital incinerator.
