Health fears over plans for waste wood incinerator

PLANS to operate a waste wood incinerator in Barry have sparked health concerns among local parents and environmentalists.

The plans for the “gasification facility” have seen local campaigners lodge a complaint with the European Commission.

They claim the plant was granted planning permission without the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) required by law.

Biomass UK No.2 Ltd put forward the plans for the site on Woodham Road, which they claim will generate enough energy to power 23,600 homes, in 2015.

One mother, Katherine Robatto, said she was against the development because too little was known about the effect it would have on people’s health.

“As a parent I find the plant really scary. My seven-year-old daughter is asthmatic and I worry about what it could do to her lungs. It isn’t just her, my husband and nephews all live nearby the plant and all have asthma.”

The 33-year-old mother-of-four said that 12 schools are within two kilometres of the incinerator site.

She said: “It is all just incredibly worrying.

“There is lots of scientific evidence to show that nano particles that are emitted from plants like this can cause respiratory problems.

“All of my children’s schools are close to the plant, so is my business. There just doesn’t seem to be enough regulation of this kind of incinerators.”

Earlier this month Barry Town Council voted to fund their own experts to make representations to Natural Resources Wales who will decide if the incinerator can go ahead.

A spokesman for Natural Resources Wales said it was up to the Vale of Glamorgan council to decide if an EIA was needed and that it wouldn’t form part of Biomass UK No.2’s application for an environmental permit.

Vale of Glamorgan council initially refused the application but planning permission was granted in April 2016 after the company appealed.

A spokesman for the authority said it was decided that “no Environmental Impact Assessment was required” and that this position was later confirmed by Welsh Government.

Anna Beardsley from the Dock Incinerator Action Group said that local people were concerned about where the wood being burned was coming from.

She said: “It could be window frames, it could be from industrial sites, to be honest it could be anything - that is the problem.

“The company has produced pollution modelling, but we don’t think it takes into account how densely populated Barry is, or the wind patterns.

“We want that modelling to be looked at independently. The council say that isn’t their job and Natural Resource Wales are just taking what’s been said at face value.”

A spokesman for the project said that emissions from the facility would be strictly monitored and free from smoke.

He said: “A comprehensive and detailed air quality impact assessment has been carried out which demonstrates that air quality impacts from the facility will be negligible for all pollutants.

“All pollutant concentrations will remain well below air quality objectives set for the protection of human health.

He said the facility would also be fitted with a 24/7 emissions monitoring system.

This would automatically shut down the plant should any part of the emissions control or plant fail.

A decision to allow the incinerator to go ahead or not is expected in early May.