The occupation of the Basingstoke incinerator ended this morning at 10.15 am, as aerial bailiffs removed the last of the five remaining activists from a cargo net suspended from the roof of the building.
100 activists from anti-incineration groups the country had joined forces with Greenpeace and invaded the plant at 6.30 am on Monday morning, stopping construction for three days.
On Tuesday, bailiffs climbed onto the roof of the building, using bolt-cutters to remove protestors from the structure and ropes to lower them a hundred feet to the ground.
But seven of them evaded arrest and spent the night camped out on the roof of the building, or suspended from the framework in helicopter cargo nets.
Greenpeace volunteers took part, as members of GAIA, the Global Anti- Incineration Alliance, alongside incinerator action groups from Hull, Bradford, Essex, Derbyshire, Brighton, Kent, London, Milton Keynes, Guildford and Wales.
And the UK action was just one of fifty protests around the world on Global Anti-Incineration Day - the biggest protest against incineration to date.
Government misleads public over new waste burners
If allowed to start burning household rubbish, the new incinerator will emit large quantities of dioxin chemicals that get into the food chain and cause cancer. The Government recently warned that a third of UK adults and half of Britain's babies and toddlers take in more dioxins than is safe.
Despite recent Government claims that only a "handful" of new waste incinerators will be built in Britain, Greenpeace research published today, shows that by 2010 alone Britain will have 43 new incinerators, in addition to the 15 currently operating. (1).
Greenpeace incineration campaigner Mark Strutt said,
"People from across the country have come here to say enough is enough. We don't want more incinerators to poison our food with cancer causing chemicals. We must ban incinerators now. We are already at a stage where the government is warning that half of Britain's babies and toddlers take in more dioxins than is safe.
"The Government is trying to mislead the public by claiming only a handful of new rubbish burners will be built when in fact 43 are in the pipeline. Politicians are clearly trying to downplay the role they want these poisonous plants to play in dealing with our waste because they are worried about massive public outcry. We hope today sends a clear message that people don't want or need incinerators."
People don't need to live near an incinerator to risk exposure to cancerous dioxins. Over 95% of human exposure comes through our food especially fat in milk, meat, eggs and fish. Dioxins can travel for miles on air currents and contaminate farmland. Animals and fish take up dioxins from the food they eat and also from any soil or sediment they also consume while eating, for example cows consume significant amount of soil when grazing. According to the Food Standard Agency, the Basingstoke incinerator, which is in an agricultural area, will add to dioxin levels in the human food chain. (2)
Incinerators release many other toxic chemicals as well as dioxins. These chemicals include heavy metals and acid gases as well as fine particles, which can damage lungs.
The Basingstoke plant claims it will be a "combined heat and power station", however generating energy from waste this way is extremely inefficient. It is a huge waste of energy to remanufacture new materials instead of recycling them. Burning plastics gives off the most energy but plastics are made from oil so burning them not only emits highly toxic chemicals but also gives off global warming gases. Britain already has a massive resource of green energy such as wind, wave and solar power and investing taxpayer's money in so called 'energy from waste' schemes is depriving these genuine sources of money.
Hampshire has a recycling rate of 25% which is currently better than much of the UK but is put to shame by other towns and cities around the world. Recycling and composting has enabled the city of Edmonton in Canada to cut municipal waste by 70%, Canberra in Australia and Flanders in Belgium by 59%. In the UK, Wye in Kent recycles 75%. Many more regions in the UK could reach 60% recycling in the next few years but this will not be an option for Hampshire. Three new incinerators will mean they are committed to burning nearly 400,000 tonnes of rubbish every year for the next 20 years.
Notes for editors:
- Greenpeace research along with interactive map showing the sites of the 43 proposed incinerators and 15 existing ones at www.greenpeace.org.uk
- Food Standards Agency (14 November 2001) response to Environment Agency consultation on application for a permit for the Basingstoke incinerator. No bj7786. According to the Food Standards Agency the Basingstoke incinerator "is in an area that is predominantly agricultural. The main risk to safety of the human food chain will be through deposition of persistent contaminants in areas of food cultivationEven a well-operated modern incinerator that meets the emission limits defined in the Waste Incineration Directive will add to the overall burden of persistent pollutants such as dioxins in the environment."
Further information:
Contact:
Greenpeace press office on 020 7865 8255
