GALWAY for a SAFE ENVIRONMENT
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Monday, April 3rd , 2000
Galway for a Safe Environment (GSE) Residents for a Responsible Waste Management Policy GSE Welcomes Health Expert's Statement that "There is a health Risk to Incineration" Recycling/Incineration Figures Given by Danish Incinerator Manager"Misleading" GSE to Announce Date, later this week, for Open Debate in May, Galway for a Safe Environment spokesperson, Áine Suttle, has welcomed the statement by health expert Dr. Martin Cranfield, at last Friday's Waste Management Seminar, that "emissions from incinerators present an increased health risk". She said that this statement, from an expert brought in by the local authorities, vindicated the concern that has been expressed by environmental groups such as GSE. "When Dr. Cranfield said that the increased health risks from incinerator emissions were small, he seemed to be referring to the increase over background dioxin levels in Britain, which are already much higher than in Ireland, as Britain has been incinerating rubbish for over 100 years. He did admit that he had no information on dioxin levels in Ireland", said Ms. Suttle, who attended the seminar on behalf of GSE. A 1996 EPA study on the level of dioxins in cows milk in Ireland, which is recognised internationally as a good indicator of dioxin levels in the environment, found that Ireland had the lowest level of dioxins in the EU, well below those of Britain. "We believe that the possible dioxin health risks here in Ireland due to incineration are actually much higher, said Áine Suttle, as our background levels are so low, compared to Britain". Ms. Suttle also said that the figures used by Dr. Cranfield for sources of dioxin agreed with those that have been presented by GSE in the debate so far, and contradicted those presented by MC O'Sullivan. Áine Suttle also noted that Dr. Cranfield stated that the measuring of dioxins was a very inexact science - which agrees with arguments put forward by Prof. Paul Connett when he spoke in Galway last month. GSE also referred to the presentation at the seminar by Mr. Gunnar Kjaer, Project Director of the largest incinerator in Denmark, I/S Vestforbraending, and noted that his figures on the percentage of Denmark's waste incinerated and recycled in their service area seemed to be misleading. Áine Suttle said that Mr. Kjaer's overheads used at the seminar stated clearly that the following were the percentages of waste treatment in the area serviced by his plant: Recycling: 59%, Incineration (Energy-from-waste): 30%, Landfill: 11% However, if you look at the breakdown in tonnages given in another overhead, it was as follows: Waste Quantity: 607,000 tonnes Recycling: 98,000 tonnes (16.1%) Composting: 65,000 tonnes (10.7%) Controlled landfill: 28,000 tonnes (4.6%) Temp. storage: 79,000 tonnes (13%) Incineration: 356,000 tonnes (58.6%) * note that the percentages total up to 103% ! These are Mr. Kjaer's figures This means that the actual figures of waste treatment are as follows: Recycling (incl. composting): 26.8%, Incineration (Energy-from-Waste): 58.6%, Landfill (incl. temporary storage): 17.6% Áine Suttle commented that "as the figures clearly don't add up, it looks as if the percentages of recycling have been artificially increased, and those for incineration decreased. The public are entitled to ask if this was done on purpose, and if it was a mistake, could we have the real figures from Mr. Kjaer, and from Mr. Rudden of MC O'Sullivan ?" Ms. Suttle also said that Mr. Kjaer's presentation showed that his company, I/S Vestforbraending, didn't even measure the amount of dioxins being emitted from their incinerator. GSE commented that it felt vindicated by the small number of members of the public who attended the meeting. "We believed that a day-time meeting on a Friday was not an appropriate time for informing and consulting with the public on waste management. Apart from the fact that we were given insufficient time to get our experts to address the meeting, only one of our committee members was actually able to attend, all the rest were working" "We said last week that we had asked our experts to come and debate with Mr. Rudden and his experts, and we hope that we will be able to announce a date for an open debate on a weekend day, sometime in the month of May, later this week. The public understands that as we are a voluntary group, and our experts are giving their time for free, it is not possible to obtain their services at two weeks notice", said Áine Suttle. Confirmation: Conchúr Ó Brádaigh, 087-2830452 Áine Suttle, 091-581047 <!-- HTML Markup endspan --> </td> </tr> </table> <a name=bottom></a> </body> </html>