Whos paying for Viridor Cardiff Incinerator Road Berman?

An interesting article from the Guardian...

Taxpayer bails out Europe's biggest waste-to-energy scheme

in Manchester The government has had to step in to ensure

the £635m project can be built after banks failed to lend enough

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/apr/08/utilities-pfi

Take action 15 April

Protest against the incinerator. Join us on
April 15 lunch time 1.30 City Hall lawn outside city hall.
more on this here - join us as the council's planning committee rules on proposals for a large waste incinerator in the city.

There has been fierce opposition to the planning application from Viridor waste management for a 350,000 tonne per year waste incinerator to be situated in Trident Park, near Splott. Cardiff Friends of the Earth has handed in objections from over 300 people and many others have also expressed their opposition.

The group has objected to the proposal on the grounds that the incinerator would burn waste which should be recycled or composted. They argue that incineration is not an efficient way of generating energy and that pollution from the site could be harmful to the health of local residents and could pollute important wildlife sites.

The objection says that household waste should be dealt with as near to where it was produced as possible, whereas an incinerator would take waste from across south east Wales, possibly much further.

Phil Ward, Waste Campaigner for Cardiff Friends of the Earth will be speaking on behalf of the group at the council meeting. He commented:

“The people of Cardiff do not want a massive incinerator at the heart of the city burning waste from across south Wales. We should all be taking radical steps to reduce the amount of waste we produce. Then we need to be recycling and composting all we can.

“Incineration is not a 'green' technology and there is no sense in driving huge amounts of waste around the country increasing congestion and pollution. Other, less damaging and more sustainable, technologies are available that could be implemented in each local area "

SITE VISIT today 2.30 Trident Park

URGENT take action today!!! SITE VISIT - need to be there to show cllrs concern -
Mon 6th 2.30pm - letter from Phil Williams
Development manager re incinerator
land at trident park app 08/2616/E.. CAN YOU BE THERE???
county hall 02920 87 2000

Where...Site plans

http://www.viridor-consultation.co.uk/UserFiles/APPLICATION%20PLANS.pdf

Rodney Berman hot under the collar!

Dear Ms

I thank you for your latest e-mail. However, I have answered many of these points before and you repeatedly ignore the explanations you are given and repeatedly distort what I say. You also repeat allegations over and over again that I have previously refuted.

On that basis, could you please explain why it is that you look forward to my reply?

Yours sincerely,

Rodney Berman

Leader Cardiff council

Yes Rodney

I would have thought that pointing out these NEW serious flaws, described below, would be appreciated and you would address these extremely serious points now that you are aware of them. Your officers have not brought these matters to your attention! You have not addressed these points as yet. Friends of the earth and the green party will continue to ask these very questions and deserve an answer. In addition we will be asking how the Environmental Assessment on the air quality affects of the incinerator was done.

I had hoped you might respond with an open mind.

There are HUGE serious flaws in project ‘green’ and the Viridor planning application in skipping due process. The Viridor site has not been a llocated for waste management purposes in the Development Plan. If allocated in the future LDP, it would be subject to stronger tests, potentially through the public examination process, and to a soundness test

How can you ignore the development plan?

The Cardiff LDP itself is still awaited so has not allocated sites, has not been subject to consultation and would still have to go through public examination. The proper process is for Viridor to argue for this site through the LDP. To grant planning permission would allow them to skip due process and so unfair to both the public and to promoters of alternative residual waste treatments. It should therefore be turned down on grounds of prematurity.

It is clearly an important function of the planning process to determine whether allocations for waste treatment facilities meet the test of ‘Best Practicable Environmental Option’ (BPEO) at a strategic level.

The applicant has not undertaken an SA/BPEO appraisal of the proposal and, because the Authority did not recognise that it was their responsibility to do so. There is, therefore, no support for the allocation being BPEO as required by National Policy. The National Waste Strategy, “Wise about Waste” specifies the minimising of landfill and incineration.

The Viridor proposal amounts to a huge expansion of incineration, both for municipal waste and for industrial waste, instead of the alternatives that exist for both categories. Viridor make a case for 170 000tpa of residual MSW arising in the sub-region. We have shown that even Prosiect Gwyrdd’s assumption brought up to date would give 140 000tpa. Viridor make no case for the 170 000tpa of commercial or industrial waste. Their incinerator would therefore tout for business and encourage incineration rather than waste recovery – preferred in the waste strategy as well as by the basic waste hierarchy (mandated by the Waste Framework Directive…….).

On waste growth, the figures show that municipal waste is stagnant or falling in Wales as well as England. It’s your officers who have to justify projected20increases (as they supported in the Regional Waste Plan), and learn lessons on waste reduction.

They have overlooked the dangerous fact that the process produces vast quantities of Ash which in landfill20produces toxic dust and leachate. A Ministerial answer last week in the Commons specified that incinerator ash has to be tested for being hazardous waste – no mention of that in the project greenwah report or the planning application.

And of course there is a big question to of the propriety of the officers fixing with Viridor a site visit to their incinerator still under construction. No one was informed - that Colnbrook is Viridor's incinerator and not yet operating!!! So what point is there in visiting that? And what opportunities for the public to join that visit?

best wishes

and still hoping for a reply

serious flaws in project ‘green- ’Viridor planning application skipping due process.

I drew R Bermans attention to Lib Dems to scrap Bristol EfW plans and asked him

Cardiff lib dems to take note ...where is your green agenda/ policy...???

Rodney Berman Lib Dem reply....

1. As you are well aware Prosiect Gwyrdd is also seeking a variety of solutions. You know this as it has been said many times. We want to see what options are available to us when we go out to tender with environmental impact being a factor that we can take into account.

2. Whilst Energy from Waste was used as the reference solution in the Outline Business Case this does not mean this will be the solution chosen. However, my understanding is that it was used as the reference solution because we were required to use it as the reference solution by the Welsh Assembly Government.

3. I understand that the Welsh Assembly Government has recently determined that Energy from Waste is its preferred technology solution for residual waste treatment in its most recent policy document on this issue.

4. In view of the above, you might perhaps wish to redirect your lobbying efforts towards the Welsh Assembly Government.

5. You appear to have forgotten to congratulate the Co uncil on reaching a combined rate for recycling and composting of 40% as reported last week in the Echo.

yours sincerley

Rodney Berman
leader of Cardiff Council

Show some green leadership then..

Sorry but the Cardiff Lib Dems here are still in the age of stupid and are in the business of promoting the most un environmentally friendly policies in Wales and in the name of project green - it is blatent greenwash!

While the libdems make 'green' policy on the hoof in cardiff the green party is very clear where it stands -not just in cardiff but UK wide. Good that recycling is on the increase - however perhaps you would like to tell me how much of the co mingled waste sent for recycling is actually recycled in an environmentally friendly sustainable way? How much of this co mingled waste is actually contaminated badly by the archaic process used? You are proud of the Cardiff recycling so will you do a tour with us and the FOE waste group so we can view the cardiff recycling process together? What happens exac tly to this 40% recycled material and where does it go exactly? Perhaps the press will join us. Even if the 40% figure was entirely genuine it still far behind best practise in Europe. And of course if recycling is getting better - why do we need such a huge incinerator???

How many plastic bottles of water do you and your fellow cllrs and staff consume in council offices and buildings? How much does this cost? What is wrong with drinking the tap water in Cardiff? Perhaps you might reconsider this practice as an indication of your commitment to sustainable and green practices and policy by the lib dems.

Presently we have a bridge and roads for articulated lorries into and through listed Bute Park and new car parks for Sky TV in the park. Trees being chopped down before consultation for the convience of the council as in Bute Park and by St Davids Hall for the erection of an unnecessary TV screen and every time we are told they are conveniently diseased. There is horrendous congestion in cardiff - an expensive bus service not fit for purpose, and you are happy to consider bringing hundreds of huge lorries full of rubbish through cardiff daily fr om all over south wales and build roads into the city centre Bute Park for articulated lorries and encourage and promote increased traffic to the nursery and by promoting events!

Then we have the HUGE serious flaws in project ‘green’ and the Viridor planning application skipping due process.

The Viridor site has not been allocated for waste management purposes in the Development Plan. If allocated in the future LDP, it would be subject to stronger tests, potentially through the public examination process, and to a soundness test (* Sound’ within its ordinary meaning of “showing good judgement” and “able to be trusted” and within the context of fulfilling the expectations of legislation.)

The Cardiff LDP itself is still awaited so has not allocated sites, has not been subject to consultation and would still have to go through public examination. The proper process is for Viridor to argue for this site through the LDP. To grant planning permission would allow them to skip due process and so unfair to both the public and to promoters of alternative residual waste treatments. It should therefore be turned down on grounds of prematurity.

It is clearly an important function of the planning process to determine whether allocations for waste treatment facilities meet the test of ‘Best Practicable Environmental Option’ (BPEO) at a strategic level.

The applicant has not undertaken an SA/BPEO appraisal of the proposal and, because the Authority did not recognise that it was their responsibility to do so, neither have the Authority. There is, therefore, no support for the allocation being BPEO as required by National Policy.

The National Waste Strategy, “Wise about Waste” specifies the minimising of landfill and incineration.

The Viridor proposal amounts to a huge expansion of incineration, both for municipal waste and for industrial waste, instead of the alternatives that exist for both categories. Viridor make a case for 170 000tpa of residual MSW arising in the sub-region. We have shown that even Prosiect Gwyrdd’s assumption brought up to date would give 140 000tpa. Viridor make no case for the 170 000tpa of commercial or industrial waste. Their incinerator would therefore tout for business and encourage incineration rather than waste recovery – preferred in the waste strategy as well as by the basic waste hierarchy (mandated by the Waste Framework Directive…….).

On waste growth, the figures show that municipal waste is stagnant or falling20in Wales as well as England. It’s your officers who have to justify projected increases (as they supported in the Regional Waste Plan), and learn lessons on waste reduction.

They have overlooked the dangerous fact that the process produces vast quantities of Ash which in landfill produces toxic dust and leachate. A Ministerial answer last week in the Commons specified that incinerator ash has to be tested for being hazardous waste – no mention of that in the project greenwah report or the planning application.

And of course there is a big question to of the propriety of the officers fixing with Viridor a site visit to their incinerator still under construction. No one was informed - that Colnbrook is Viridor's incinerator and not yet operating!!! So what point is there in visiting that? And what opportunities for the public to join that visit?

Waste incineration in Cardiff would fans flames of climate change

The Green Party have formally objected to the proposal for a waste incinerator in Cardiff. Without this waste incineration represents an inefficient form of energy generation from fossil fuels which contribute to climate change. Wales has a very poor record of recycling waste. The company proposing to burn the waste has not provided any evidence on how it is to provide heating to the surrounding communities generated from the burning of waste. Whilst recycling of domestic waste in Wales has increased to 32% it is still behind the best practice demonstrated in other parts of Europe - Flanders (Northern Belgium) recycles over 70 per cent of its municipal waste, the Netherlands 64%, and Germany and Austria at or above 60%. Per capita20waste production in the UK is 697kg per person compared to 466 in Germany and 385 in Switzerland.

Burning of waste is a loss of valuable raw materials. Use of virgin materials uses a lot more resources to produce similar amounts of a given raw material, such as paper. For example approximately 28 to 70% of energy is saved by producing paper from recycled paper rather than virgin timber.

The incinerator will produce hazardous fly ash containing persistent organic pollutants such as PCBs.

Waste incineration will contribute to climate change. We have a target of reducing Carbon Emissions by 3% per annum and the incineration of waste will not help us meet this target. We should be looking to reduce the amount of waste we produce rather than burning what is actually a valuable resource.

Incineration will remove the impetus to increase rates of recycling in Wales or to reduce the amount of waste pre capita with Councils being tied into lengthy contracts to deliver waste. Evidence from Denmark clearly shows that in areas where there are high levels of waste incineration there are also low levels of recycling.

There are huge opportunities to reduce the amount of waste produced by requiring a deposit on all beverage containers to ensure that they can be returned where possible for reuse. Estimates suggest that a reduction of 20% could be made in the amount of domestic waste we produce by introducing a return on all beverage containers. No detail has been provided on how neighbouring houses would be provided with heat and it would not be cynical to think that this has only been suggested to help it through the planning process and help the Council avoid paying land fill tax penalties in the future.

Lib Dems to scrap Bristol EfW plans

Cardiff lib dems take note ...
Lib Dems to scrap Bristol EfW plans 20-03-2009

Bristol city council looks set to scrap its plans to build an energy-from-waste facility as part of a joint PFI bid with two neighbouring councils, after the political party in charge of the city's council changed.

Councillor Gary Hopkins, cabinet member for the environment, told letsrecycle.com that, now that the Liberal Democrats had taken control of the council from previous incumbent Labour, they expected to push ahead with their manifesto commitment to ensure an EfW plant was not built.

The Liberal Democrats made the decision and it is for the officers to carry out, it is an absolutely key part of our manifesto

"The Liberal Democrats made the decision and it is for the officers to carry out, it is an absolutely key part of our manifesto," Cllr Hopkins explained.

"We wanted a potential variety of solutions and we don't want to centralise arrangements," he added.

Bristol is currently seeking around £80 million in PFI funding for waste treatment as part of a joint bid with South Gloucestershire council and North Somerset county council as the West of England Partnership and had based its Outline Business Case on a reference technology of energy-from-waste.

continues---- http://www.letsrecycle.com/do/ecco.py/view_item?listid=37&listcatid=217&listitemid=31265

Incinerator decision was deferred to allow a site visit (as requested by G Cox). The site visit, however, was already planned with Viridor and is to Colnbrook incinerator which happens to be run by... Viridor!! Also, is not yet operating..!!!

Planning Committee agreed yeasterday to a site visit to the Colnbrook incinerator. I hope they will please notify us of the details of the visit and ensure that the public can attend on site?

We observe that the officers had arranged things already with Viridor for next Wednesday. They did not inform the Committee how they selected this incinerator, that Viridor run it (joint venture with Grundon) and that it is not yet operating. Why was the the Committee were not given this information and does the officers arrangement with Viridor meets standards on impartiality and conflicting interest?

Protestors fight planned incinerator site in heart of city

Mar 12 2009 by Andrew Dagnell, South Wales Echo

THE heat was turned up on plans to build an incinerator in the heart of Cardiff yesterday.

Protesters gathered outside City Hall before a planning committee meeting, promising to fight the proposed £1bn development in Splott.

Waste management firm Viridor, backed by Cardiff City directors Mike Hall and Paul Guy, had hoped to get the go-ahead for the plant, which will burn 350,000 tonnes of rubbish a year.

But the decision was deferred until next montColnbrookh, so the committee could visit the proposed site at Trident Park and another incinerator in Colnbrook, near Slough.

Moments before the meeting, Friends of the Earth Cymru members living in the site’s surrounding area waved placards and banners and donned gas masks to show their disapproval.

Cardiff University lecturer Andy Williams, 31, of Adamsdown, said: “As a resident, I’m concerned that this is going to be on my doorstep.

“I’ve just had a son and he’s one month old. The thought that he is going to be growing up breathing in heightened levels of toxins and impurities is awful.

“There are better and greener solutions.”

Anne Greagsby, 56, of Lake Road East, Roath, said: “I think the plans are absolutely crazy and really stupid.

“This is like building the Titanic part two.

“This will bring extra lorries into the capital and it’s going to form a huge carbon footprint and recycling will be taken less seriously.”

Grandmother-of-four June Johnson, 62, lives at Bayside, Splott, just under a mile away from the site, and said she was concerned for her and her grandchildren’s health.

The community worker said: “We have already put up with the stench and smells from Corus and the sewage works.

“With the extra traffic as well this is going to be a disaster. Me and two of my grandchildren have asthma and from a health perspective we will be living in a nasty radius of this monstrosity.

“Where was the public consultation? I knew nothing about this plan until it was nearly through planning.”

Meanwhile, Splott Liberal Democrat councillor Gavin Cox, who requested the site visit, said: “I’m against it totally. I reject the options that have been put before the planning committee today.

“The area is unsuitable and the infrastructure cannot support the area. I’m also against the fact that this is a 25-year plan, as in five or 10 years there might be better alternatives.”

A Viridor spokesman said: “We welcome the request of Cardiff Council’s planning committee to undertake a visit to the site of another fully constructed energy- from-waste facility to help inform their decision on our application.

“While we are naturally eager to receive planning permission and progress with the Trident Park project, this request demonstrates the expected thorough approach being adopted by the council in reaching its decision.”

About the proposed site visit

Viridor has entered into a 50-50 joint venture with Grundon to run the £160 million ... Grundon and Viridor directors sign joint agreement (left to right): ...
www.letsrecycle.com/do/ecco.py/view_item?listid=37&listcatid=246&listitemid=6770

Colnbrook (Lakeside) incinerator – this plant, operated by Grundon/Viridor and sited next to the M25, (opposite Heathrow Terminal 5), was to have opened this year (2008) with a capacity of 410,000 tonnes. However, the main building contractor, Japanese company Itochu-Takuma, identified some defects in the plant during testing which has put back the opening date to July 2009. The problems relate to the economiser units, which recover heat from the combustion gases and help to make the plant more energy efficient. (see Grundon, Viridor or Let’s Recycle websites for further information). The plant is due to take waste from Berkshire, Wiltshire and Dorset .