US Expert Slams Incinerator
Leading biomass expert, Dr Mary Booth, a specialist in ecology and biochemistry from Massachusetts USA, has said that the Barton Renewable Energy Plant “strikes me as one of the most dangerous I have seen in terms of potential impacts to human health”.
The Breathe Clean Air Group has invited Dr Booth to give her witness statement at the forthcoming Public Inquiry into the Davyhulme incinerator, in Greater Manchester, which starts on 13th November at Manchester United Football Ground.
Dr Booth says “My testimony will largely focus on emissions of heavy metals from the facility, which I believe will represent a very serious threat to the health of the surrounding community. I will also comment on the net greenhouse gas emissions impact and I am dismayed by the inadequacy of the controls for nitrogen oxides”.
Dr Booth adds that the “pollutants have been consistently underestimated or even actively misrepresented. This means that the Barton facility will present a greater threat to human health and the environment than the Environment Agency or the developer admits”.
Chairman of the Breathe Clean Air Group, Pete Kilvert said “Dr Booth’s testimony highlights the dangers of an incinerator burning waste wood, using old technology, in a populated area. I urge local people to attend the Public Inquiry on 13th November and have their say.
The chimney stack on this polluting plant is only 44.23m high, Simon Holbrook from the Environment Agency said ideally it should be 60 to 100m high to disperse the pollutants better, this midget chimney is because of City Airport which PEEL own. Burning at 850 degrees 24/7 for 25 years. If built creating just 15 jobs. There isn’t another plant like it in the country say the EA.