First chance for Merthyr residents to be heard by commissioners over massive incinerator

03 June 2011

The three Commissioners who will decide whether a massive rubbish incinerator is to be dumped on Merthyr Tydfil will be holding their first meeting in public in the town on Tuesday (June 7).

Giant American energy company Covanta wants to build the huge waste plant just outside the Valleys town. The incinerator would demand 750,000 tonnes of rubbish a year - more than will be produced by all the homes in Wales. This waste management disaster would hit recycling rates, produce climate change emissions, and mean hundreds of lorries on the roads every day bringing rubbish from all over the country and beyond [1].

The Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC) Preliminary Meeting [2] will hear representations from local residents, community groups and environment campaigners.

Friends of the Earth Cymru will be challenging Covanta's claim that the incinerator would not conflict with the Welsh Government's own waste strategy, and will be calling for a proper examination of the inaccurate and misleading claims about waste and climate change in Covanta's proposal.

Friends of the Earth have produced a video, which features residents voicing their worries about the incinerator that could be dumped on their doorstep (footage available for media use) [3].

Haf Elgar, campaigner for Friends of the Earth Cymru, said:

"This is the first opportunity that anyone concerned about this massive incinerator will have to face the Commissioners. There are six months to make a decision, and we've got to make sure the Commission really listens to the worries of local people.

"It would be ridiculous if a decision didn't take into account the waste policies of Wales, or the true impact on climate change. Incineration is not green - it produces toxic ash, air pollution and climate-changing carbon dioxide. This incinerator would be a waste management disaster for Wales."

Alyson Austin, of Merthyr Friends of the Earth and a member of the No Monster Incinerator group in Merthyr Tydfil, said:

"People in Merthyr have been queuing up at our street stalls to oppose this terrible proposal. Residents are rightly concerned about the health issues, and the hundreds of lorries that will be on the roads every day bringing rubbish from all over the country and beyond.

"They're not making it easy for residents to take part, as it's a working day for most people and difficult to get to from the Rhymney valley. But the strength of feeling is so strong that hundreds of people will be there telling the Commissioners how this incinerator will have a dreadful effect on our lives and community." 

 NOTES

1. Further information www.foe.co.uk/merthyr

2. The meeting will be held at the Merthyr Tydfil Leisure Centre, Merthyr Tydfil Leisure Village, Merthyr Tydfil, CF48 1UT. Registration will start at 10am, 7 June, with the meeting scheduled to start at 11.15am

3. Brilliant new campaign video 'Burned' can be seen at www.foe.co.uk/merthyr and is available for media use. Please contact Marie Reynolds on 020 7566 1649

 For further information, please contact Friends of the Earth Cymru on 029 2022 9577