SCOTTISH INCINERATOR SET TO GO UP IN SMOKE

After a damaging second fire onsite last week, news has broken in Dundee Scotland of ongoing major technical problems at the 2 year old Dundee Incinerator, and sources in Dundee say that it is now inevitable that receivers will be brought in by Bank of Scotland and the Prudential to conduct an independent review.

The plant utilizes the same technology (fluidized bed) as that proposed by Indaver for the Ringaskiddy project, which Indaver admitted to a shocked Aghada community that they have no experience in operating. Indaver rejected accusations by CHASE that they would be using the Cork Community as Guinea Pigs, claiming that fluidized bed is a ‘proven technology’. The technology however has had a number of failures resulting in closure in the US, and the Dundee plant has had 20 separate breaches of safety limits reported to the Scottish EPA over emissions from the plant. This is the second reported fire at the plant, which has only been operating for 10 months after a fire in September 2000 caused it to be shut down, with one of the boilers still out of action since then.

Sean Cronin, CHASE Chairperson declared, “This absolutely vindicates our fear, as stated at the Aghada meeting of the Cork population being used as guinea pigs. This is what is regarded as a proven technology, and it has been a complete disaster in terms of accidents and emissions, and there are claims of higher-than-average rates of non-Hodgkins lymphoma in the area. Incineration is a completely unsafe and volatile technology, which will be regarded as barbaric in the future”.

The plant (120,000 tonnes capacity, generating 8MW electricity) was given the go-ahead in October 1997, and completed two years later, and has been a major embarrassment for the Dundee City Council. Highland Council’s head of waste strategy has stated that Highland should avoid the mistake of adopting a relatively untested fluidized bed incinerator, given the Dundee experience.