Galway for a Safe Environment (GSE)
Monday, May 15th , 2000
Connacht Waste Management Plan "Fundamentally Flawed"
Major Miscalculation In Carbon Dioxide Emissions From Incinerator Real Costs of Incineration Not Given in Plan Speaking at a debate on the Connacht Draft Waste Management in Galway last night, which was attended by over 400 people from all over Connacht, a spokesman for Galway for a Safe Environment (GSE), said that the Plan was fundamentally flawed in its decision to opt for an incineration option, instead of a recycling-only option.

The Guardian
Children at risk from poisoned ash on paths
David Hencke, Westminster correspondent
Monday May 8, 2000
Hundreds of toddlers have been banned from playing in allotments in Newcastle because poisoned ash has been spread on footpaths from an incinerator which the government has earmarked to double in capacity.
Public health officials have had to issue a ban on children under two playing in 27 allotments in the constituency of the agriculture secretary, Nick Brown, and have warned people not to eat eggs or poultry from there. All produce grown on the allotments will have to be washed and root vegetables peeled because they could be contaminated with dioxins, lead, zinc and copper.

Thousands Say No to Incinerator Thursday 11 May 2000
by Keith Kelly
A STAGGERING one in four people in Galway city has signed a petition against the construction of a thermal treatment plant in Galway as part of the Connacht Waste Management Plan.
The petition, drawn up by the Galway for a Safe Environment group, has the signatures of 15,241 people who say they are against the proposed incinerator planned for one of four selected sites around the city.
"This is a very loud wake-up call to the councillors and the Government that they would be unwise to ignore. In particular, city councillors have been openly informed that they have no mandate to vote in a waste management plan that includes incineration.
"The voters of Galway have clearly said otherwise. Not to recognise this obvious fact from the petition would be blatantly undemocratic and mean that the political representatives do not heed or express the will of the people," according to GSE spokesperson Brendan Smith, the co-ordinator of the petition.