Observations on the IEEP report for the National Society for Clean Air (NSCA)
In May 2001 the UK National Society for Clean Air published a report entitled "Municipal Solid Waste Incineration: Health Effects, Regulation and Public Communication". The central thesis of this report, written by Andrew Farmer and Peter Hjerp of the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) has been widely quoted. The authors assert that environmental releases from a modern incinerator are a fraction of those occurring ten years ago. The corollary promoted by the authors, that in consequence relative health impacts consequent from releases from municipal solid waste incinerators are exceedingly low, has also attained a wide currency. This is despite the authors concluding that "..we cannot discount effects resulting from the small quantities of pollutants emitted by MSW incinerators.". The primary purpose of this report seems to be to allay human health concerns of community residents associated with incinerator operation...
