GALWAY for a SAFE ENVIRONMENT
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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 9th, 2000
Galway for a Safe Environment (GSE) Residents for a Responsible Waste Management Policy WEDNESDAY, February 9th, 2000 Update for Councillors and for Media on Incinerator Note: All of the information below can be backed up with original source material. Please contact us at the numbers below for more information Since we held our public meeting in Castlegar in November several important reports and events have come to our attention which increase our concern about incineration as a method of waste management. 1) The European Commission DG Environment published a report in October 1999, titled "Compilation of EU Dioxin Exposure and Health Data." The following is a summary of the main points of the document: The World Health Organisation has suggested that additional measures may be required at the European Community level to further reduce human exposure to an acceptable level within an appropriate timescale. The World Health Organisation's re-evaluation of the toxicology of dioxins (1998) recommended that the Tolerable Daily intake of dioxins be reduced to 1-4 picograms TEQ per kilogram of body weight, with 1 being the goal. Background exposure to dioxins in the general population of the EU is still at levels where subtle health effects may occur and for many individuals, total exposure currently exceeds even the upper limit of the WHO recommended level. The exposure of first-born infants, up to 2 months of age, could be between 27 and 144 times greater than the WHO recommendation, without accounting for exposure to dioxin like PCBs. The report expresses concern at the fact that although much has been done to reduce dioxin emissions to the air very little has been done about emissions to water. Leaching of dioxin from ash in landfills may well be one of the most important sources of dioxin in the future. They make seven recommendations many of which will give consumers information on the levels of dioxin in food, so that we can take steps to protect our health by choosing foods which are less contaminated with dioxin. Imagine what the impact of that will be on the sale of Irish products in Europe, seeing as we have the lowest levels of dioxin in food in the EU. 2) Wexford County Council voted 19 to 1 against including incineration in their waste plan. Their main concern was the health impacts of emissions from incinerators on the population of Wexford and the agriculture,food and tourism industry of the county. They were very concerned about the lack of knowledge demonstrated by the "expert", Dr. Christopher Rappe of Sweden, who was recommended to them by the Environmental Protection Agency, and who admitted that he had not read the above mentioned EU report on Dioxin, and was unable to adequately address many of their concerns. 3) A leading British industrial economist, Robin Murray, an associate at Demos, a British economic think tank, publicly warned that incineration is the wrong economic solution to the waste problem. In an article in the Financial Times (London) titled "Waste is a Burning Issue for Britain" (Sept. 29, 1999) he argues that the alternative strategy of reduction, reuse and recycling would create 50,000 additional jobs in Britain, and create wealth at the same time. He advised the British government to look towards what he described as leading edge economies such as California, the Seattle region and some German states for models which are already down the road towards the part of "Zero Waste". An analysis of the costs of different waste management methods, done by Merrill Lynch, found that "the highest prices were paid for treating hazardous waste, followed by municipal disposal, incineration and landfill. The lowest prices were for recycling." 4) Greenpeace Sweden published a paper in November 1999, titled "Piles of Dioxin, dioxin in ashes from waste incineration in Sweden." The report documents the trap that the Swedish government fell into when they introduced a successful program to reduce the levels of dioxin emissions into the air. They have not been tracking how much of this same dioxin is now in the ash. Greenpeace used figures from countries who have been tracking dioxin levels in both air and ash, to show that Sweden has transferred the dioxin to the ash which is now in landfills. One of the incinerators that they use as an example of the problem is the Spittelau incinerator in Vienna, that is being recommended by M.C.O'Sullivan, as an example of a good incinerator. It emerges that Spittelau is emitting approximately 11 grams of dioxin per year...mostly via the ash. 5) Statement from the Irish Doctors Environmental Association (IDEA) 01-6028177(w) 01-6703422(h) Patrons: Dr. Patrick J. Hillery Prof. Risteard Mulcahy, Prof. Declan Kennedy Chair: Dr. Philip Michael, Dr. Elizabeth Cullen Associated with ISDE (International Society of Doctors for the Environment): http://www.gn.apc.org/noharm/isde/index.htm Corresp: IDEA, 38 New Street, Killarney, Co.Kerry Tel: ++353 - 064 - 37541/ e-mail: idea@tinet.ie The Irish Doctors Environmental Association strongly opposes the plans for a waste incinerator in Kilcock, as it does for other proposed sites throughout the country. Our concerns relate to the adverse health effects from toxic substances in the emissions, which being mainly fat soluble, accumulate in body tissues and are concentrated up the food-chain, eventually being absorbed by humans through consumption of e.g. cow's milk, meat, fish and eggs and subsequently passed to the foetus in a higher concentration. Possible ill-effects include altered immune responses an nd disordered endocrine effects such as decreased fertility, lowered I.Q. and cancer. Ends: Confirmation: Conchúr Ó Brádaigh 087-2830452 / 091-799223 Áine Suttle 091-581047 <!-- HTML Markup endspan --> </td> </tr> </table> <a name=bottom></a> </body> </html>