NW group asks localEnvironment Ministerto stop incinerator

Members of Zero Waste North West have called on local Environment Minister Mark H. Durkan to stop a planned incinerator at Strathfoyle.

Zero Waste North West welcomed Mr Durkan’s recent appointment, stating: “Now that we have a local Environment Minister, we would expect him to not pursue with the current policy of visiting this gasification plant upon the people of Derry, given the fact that Foyle is his constituency and he was elected to serve the best interests of the people who voted for him, we hope he now in turn will make the health and well-being of his constituents his priority.”

Back in May, Derry City Council and six other local authorities appointed a consortium consisting of Shanks, Brickkiln and Sisk to deliver the new £500m super-incinerator in Strathfoyle. Shortly afterwards, Alex Attwood as Environment Minister insisted the plant at Maydown was a gasification facility and not an incinerator despite the fact an ash pit will be needed to collect residual waste: and the word incinerate literally means ‘reduce to ashes.’

Now ZWNW are putting pressure on the Londonderry-born Minister to stop the plant. “Over 5000 citizens of Derry have already signed a petition against these plans with hundreds more signing on a weekly basis. We are also currently progressing with seeking a judicial review against this planning decision and we look forward to meeting with Mr Durkan over the coming weeks to discuss our concerns. It is ironic that giving the importance of our agricultural industry councils right across Northern Ireland are considering commissioning incinerators or other forms of thermal treatment for municipal waste. Incineration of municipal waste would produce thousands of tonnes of hazardous waste every year and among this would be significant amounts of dioxin a chemical produced in the incineration process,” the group stated.

“We are calling on councillors in the North West region and other decision makers throughout Ireland to reject incineration and protect the health of our people and the future of our agricultural industry and begin a process of adopting a policy to help move the North West towards a Zero Waste Strategy,” the group said.