Doubts over incinerator

Letter: With regards to Councillor Wakefield's comments about the overwhelming support for the proposed incinerator at Four Ashes, perhaps he or someone else would like to answer a few questions:

1 What cost comparisons have been undertaken against other disposal solutions?

2 Have comparisons of environmental impact of the proposed solutions been made?

3 How and where is the ash going to be disposed of? Around 40 per cent by volume of the input waste stream is ash, made up of bottom ash and toxic fly ash which has to go to a landfill site accredited for hazardous waste.

4 How is pollution control going to be controlled during start-up and shutdown? What is proposed as best practice, and is it adequate?

5 What happens during a plant failure? Is there a disaster plan, an emergency plan or a recovery plan?

6 How is monitoring undertaken? Are the results part of an improvement feedback process for the contractor?

7 What components of the waste stream contribute to the calorific value, and how is it assessed and maintained? Will a fossil fuel have to be used to augment the waste to maintain combustion temperature? Are there financial penalties for not having enough waste?

8 What is the efficiency of the conversion of waste to energy?

9 Are the local authority complying with guidelines and procedures? Has a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) been undertaken?

Dave Stevens, Wellington Close, Stafford.