GALWAY for a SAFE ENVIRONMENT
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Tuesday, May 23rd , 2000
Galway for a Safe Environment (GSE) Residents for a Responsible Waste Management Policy Tuesday, May 23rd , 2000 EU Waste Management Head Speaks Against Incineration "They are treated in the same way as nuclear power stations - people no longer want them" - Ludwig Kraemer Reply to Minister's Statement in Today's Irish Times Europe is moving to phase out the building of huge incinerators, according to an article published in last Friday's Guardian newspaper in Britain (see attached). The article quotes Mr. Ludwig Kraemer, Head of the EU's Waste Management Directorate as saying that "In France, Belgium, Holland, Italy, Germany and Portugal no more incinerators are being built because the people no longer want them. They are treated the same way as nuclear powers stations - people no longer want them" Mr. Kraemer also said that concerns about public health and traffic congestion and pollution caused by the lorries required to deliver hundreds of thousands of tons of waste to each incinerator had turned the public against them. Galway for a Safe Environment spokesperson, Dr. Conchúr Ó Bradaigh, called on the Minister for the Environment, Noel Dempsey to explain to the Irish people why, after months of telling us that the EU was in favour of incineration, it now appears that the opposite is true. "It is quite clear from Mr. Kraemer's comments that the EU Waste Management Directorate is not in favour of incineration and it is time that Mr. Dempsey and his consultants stopped telling us that Europe is in favour of incineration", said Dr. Ó Brádaigh. "Coming on the heels of last week's leaked report from the US EPA which confirmed that dioxins from waste incinerators are human carcinogens, this comment by Mr. Kraemer is a further blow to the Minister's credibility, and a further reason to reject the Waste Plans currently before local authorities all over the country", said Dr. Ó Brádaigh. Commenting on the Minister Noel Dempsey's comments in today's Irish Times that "any time a person lights up a cigarette or burns rubbish in the back garden, dioxin is emitted", Dr. Ó Brádaigh said that Ireland was recognised to have the lowest level of dioxins in food in the industrialised world. We also had no large scale waste incineration facilities. "A 1996 EPA study on dioxin levels in cows milk showed that Ireland's dioxin levels were up to 10 times lower than the next highest levels in neighbouring European countries", said Dr. Ó Brádaigh. "This clearly shows that the sources of dioxins described by the Minister are miniscule compared to those from large-scale waste incinerators. The Minister's comments are clearly disingenuous". "The Minister for the Environment is not only ignoring the latest information linking incineration to cancer, but he is now also ignoring the opinion of the European Union", concluded Dr. Ó Brádaigh. Confirmation: Conchúr Ó Brádaigh, 091-799223 / 087-2830452 Áine Suttle, 091-581047 <!-- HTML Markup endspan --> </td> </tr> </table> <a name=bottom></a> </body> </html>