Please select an article from the list below:-
A Burning Issue (GAIA Protests)
Arsenic In Our Gardens
Burner Group calls in experts
Cancer Link Fears Over Incinerator
Chineham Campaign Shaped Tory Policy
Hot Reception for a Princess
Incinerator In TV Probe
Royal Fallout at Opening of Incinerator
From the Basingstoke Observer. Thursday October 2nd, 2003
ROYAL FALLOUT AT OPENING OF INCINERATOR
By Rich Airey
In one fell swoop she had become Princess Ash, not Princess Anne.
The Princess Royal’s helicopter settled uncomfortably in a field near the Chineham incinerator - neatly by-passing the protesters lining the roads to the burner she was due to officially open.
Campaigners could not avoid the irony that they were there to rail against the fall-out they fear has been settling all around their communities since the controversial incinerator began its operations early this year.
Twice councilors and residents of Chineham have been angered and frightened by what they claim to be fallout from the incinerator. Twice their complaints have been rebuffed by Hampshire Waste Services. But the unsettling suspicion remains that there has been something new and unwanted in the air since the Chineham incinerator went online.
Following the Princess Anne visit, this week saw the first influx of protesters and residents into the burner complex - by special invitation - as Project Integra stepped up it's bid to win over even its most ardent opponents. But it will take a long time to convince locals who temporarily set aside their support of the royal family to give Princess Anne a roasting as she left the incinerator after the opening ceremony last Friday (September 26). And this time HRH braved their hostility.
The Princess had been given a grand tour of the facility and officially gave the burner the royal seal of approval. But campaigners were steaming mad that - as the President of the Save the Children Fund - she was tacitly supporting a facility they claim may have links to health problems in children.
Amongst the campaigners were representatives from the Basingstoke Burner Action Campaign (BBAC), Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, local councilors and a number of parents with young children.
The campaign for the Princess to stay away was exclusively revealed in the Observer two weeks ago. It quickly gathered pace - drawing attention from environmental groups including Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and the Global Anti-Incinerator Alliance (GAIA).
Parish councilor and member of BBAC, Chris Tomblin was disappointed the Princess had not stayed away, but was pleased with the level of support achieved.
He commented: "There were 60-70 people here first thing this morning and I think there would have been a lot more if it had not been a work day. We made our point though and I would really like to thank all the people who came to support us including a number of parents with small children. Cllr Tomblin added: "It is an interesting point to note that at no time during the visit were there any rubbish carts going in or out of the facility. I don’t think it was a very typical day."
While the protesters gathered outside the incinerator under the watchful eye of the local police and special branch officers, the Princess toured the facility, listened to a presentation from Project Integra director John Collis and met with staff in the hub of the incinerator - the control room.
County environment boss Cllr Keith Estlin said: "I think the day went extremely well and HRH is extremely interested in this facility. It is now quite possible for members of the public to book a tour of the facility."
He added: "There are absolutely no health problems at all with the incinerator. The protests will last about another six months and then they will find something else to protest about. The facility emits fewer pollutants in a year than a normal bonfire does in eight hours."
If you have concerns of evidence about the burner outfall, call the editor on 01256 694121
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From the Basingstoke Observer. Thursday 25th September, 2003
HOT RECEPTION FOR A PRINCESS
By Rich Airey
The roads leading to the controversial Chineham incinerator are expected to be the scene of a major demonstration against the planned visit of HRH Princess Anne tomorrow (Friday)
A hot reception is planned by protesters on the day the burner gets its official Royal opening, and worried parents and campaigners are promising to line the streets waving placards.
The street demonstration is the second phase of the burner protest - following the failure to persuade Princess Anne not to come.
Basingstoke Burner Action Campaign (BBAC) launched the appeal last week, with a letter-writing protest.
Families were encouraged to download the letters off the BBAC website and send them off to the Princess.
Campaigners claim there is scientific evidence of links between incinerators and health problems in children - and the visit clashes with the Princess’s Position as President of the Save the Children Fund.
Responding to the many letters from Chineham, royal spokesperson, Elsa Anderson said: "We will respond to any letters of individuals concerns through individual responses and not through the press. The princess has been invited by the Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire to visit the facility and the visit is going ahead as planned. As far as we know through government research and from advice we have taken, there is no official link between incinerators and health problems in children. The Princess does appreciate that people have the right to make their views knows."
The response disappointed anti-incinerator campaigner and local parish councillor Chris Tomblin. He said: "It is disappointing the Princess has been advised in this way but we can still make our point. Friends of the Earth will also be present and the matter has received worldwide attention through GAIA, the Global Anti-Incinerator Alliance. With any product of combustion, there is a proven link with the substances produced and cancers."
Incinerator bosses have already performed an about-turn this week - agreeing to allow the Observer and other members of the press to attend the royal opening. But the Chineham Parish Council has not been invited.
Independent borough and parish councillor, Martin Biermann commented: "It is obvious to me that members of the press have only been invited after pressure to attend has been applied - yet still no members of the parish council have been invited to the official opening."
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From the Basingstoke Observer. Friday 21st June, 2002
A BURNING ISSUE
By Warren Wilkins
The controversial Chineham incinerator was the centre of a ‘doomsday’ protest this week - just a year after the Observer revealed gardens near the former burner on the same site were contaminated with high levels of arsenic.
A demonstration by anti-incineration activists at the controversial Chineham incinerator ended on Wednesday, after three days of high-risk protest.
Bailiffs removed the last five Greenpeace battlers from a cargo net suspended from the roof of the building. They had climbed onto the top of the incinerator and used bolt cutters to remove the environmentalists from the structure and to lower them to the ground.
Campaigners, including the Basingstoke Burner Action Campaign fear the modern site replacing the old incinerator could spew out cancer-causing chemicals such as dioxins. Only last year the Basingstoke Observer exclusively revealed high levels of arsenic had been found in gardens in Chineham.
Worried homeowners fear the presence of the deadly heavy metal at Fox’s Furlong may be the result of ‘fallout’ from the old Chineham incinerator - just a few hundred yards away - which has now been demolished to make way for the new burner.
The borough council had advised residents not to grow their own vegetables to eat - a chilling warning the Observer believes is still in place. More than 100 activists from Greenpeace and other anti-incineration groups scaled the Chineham plant at 6:30am on Monday - International Anti-Incineration Day - and succeeded in halting building work. The police arrested seven of them.
The eco-group was joined in its protest by the Basingstoke Burner Action Campaign. More than 50 people, including many school children, waving banners tried to march on the incinerator but were prevented from entering the site by the police. The group has conceded that the incinerator will start up in October but they are campaigning to ensure that the best equipment to clean waste is installed before the burner gets a license to operate.
Chineham organiser, councillor Chris Tomblin said: "Part of the planning permission for the incinerator states that the best available technology to clean the gases and monitor the installation must be installed. We believe what they have in mind is not state of the art."
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From the Basingstoke Observer. Thursday 15th November, 2001
BURNER GROUP CALLS IN EXPERTS
By Zak Newland
Protesters campaigning against the incinerator at Chineham have commissioned a £2,500 in-depth report to force managers to use the best technology on the market.
They hope that by unravelling Hampshire Waste Authority’s bid for a license to run the burner, they can make sure it complies with strict Environment Agency guidelines.
It comes amid fears that the controversial incinerator will emit the smallest - and most dangerous - pollution into the air.
Chineham Parish Council has authorised £2,500 to be set aside for the professional report on the license application.
Geoff Webb, of the Basingstoke Burner Action Campaign, said: "The case now is that the thing has been built. We know it is too late to stop that happening. We are now trying to force the HWA to put in the best possible technology. If there are scrubbing systems and filters that will reduce emissions to near-zero, they should be used. Hopefully carrying out this report will ensure that this is done. "
Mr Webb said BBAC hopes the move, which was rubber-stamped at a recent parish council meeting, will carry more clout with the Environment Agency if the application is not up to scratch.
He added: "We want to try and force the EA’s hand in addressing this issue by asking if this is the best available technology and, if it is not, we must insist that the best is used. We cannot stop it being built, but we can make sure it is as safe as possible."
The BBAC has urged anyone concerned with the incinerator to write to the EA before December 10 deadline.
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From the Basingstoke Observer. Thursday 12th April, 2001
ARSENIC IN OUR GARDENS
By Steve Davies.
Shocked homeowners on a luxury new housing development at Chineham have been warned not to grow vegetables in their garden - because their soil is contaminated with arsenic.
Some residents at Foxes Furlong have imposed an all-flowers, no veg rule in their back gardens after surveys picked up reports that the amount of the deadly heavy metal in the soil breaches de-contamination trigger-levels for gardens and allotments.
Other residents who have bought homes in the two-year old development are worried that they have never been told of the levels of contamination.
An examination by S J Martindale Site Investigation Services in 1997 detected arsenic at above accepted levels for domestic gardens set by the Inter-Departmental Committee for the Redevelopment of Contaminated Land (ICRCL).
The arsenic levels were inside acceptable levels for soil in parks, however. The residential land has not been cleaned up.
Foxes Furlong mum Susan Ash said: "The contamination of the soil showed up on our survey. We were told that the level of arsenic wasn’t harmful to flowers, but were advised not to grow vegetables for the table."
Another Foxes Furlong resident, who asked to remain anonymous added: "Being someone who has always grown my own vegetables it has been difficult, but I am not prepared to take the risk," she said.
Another concerned resident if Geoff Webb, who works in chemical drug development for Oncology, and lives in neighburing Stockbridge Close.
He told the Observer he believed there are four possible sources for the levels of arsenic contamination of Foxes Furlong gardens:
higher than normal level of naturally occurring arsenic. leakage from post-First World War ordinance, long believed buried in quantity on the nearby MOD-owned Bramley Ranges possible contamination from the old Chineham Incinerator past legal farming practices on the land
Mr Webb added: "I would certainly be worried about this level of arsenic in the soil and it would be wisest to follow the advice and not grow vegetables in it. I would also be careful about young children, who have very hand-to-mouth habits."
Chineham councillor, Martin Biermann, said: "This problem is symptomatic of what has long been suspected - that for years the old incinerator at Chineham contaminated the land for a long way around."
The ICRCL Website lists Arsenic in it’s ‘A’ list of contaminants, saying it is potentially harmful to health when above the trigger-limit of 10mg per kg of dried soil ‘in domestic gardens or allotments’.
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From the Basingstoke Observer. Thursday 09th November, 2000
INCINERATOR IN TV PROBE
Natalie O'Toole
The controversial new incinerator in Chineham is to feature in a BBC documentary investigating the safety of a new wave of waste burners across the country.
In the Southern Eye programme on Thursday, November 16th, campaigners will talk about why the scheme should have been the subject of a public inquiry. The television investigation comes as calls for an independent review were renewed, after it emerged that statistics on related deaths may have been suppressed by civil servants.
The issue was re-ignited when it was revealed during a meeting of the Environment Select Committee that Whitehall refused to release correspondence on plans to tackle the problem of deaths associated with emissions from "new-generation" incinerators.
Environment Minister Michael Meacher has demanded an explanation about the alleged cover-up.
A bitter row between the Government and campaigners has also erupted over how many deaths are caused by the waste burners. Various different figures are being reported.
According to Greenpeace, the Government's own estimates show that if 70 new incinerators are built this would lead to at least 350 deaths a year for the next 25 years. Other reports claim that at present 88 people a year die from lung-related diseases associated from emissions.
Basingstoke MP Andrew Hunter said: "These revelations confirm the fears of those who have objected all along to the Chineham site. I have asked Michael Meacher to call a public inquiry into the health and safety implications immediately. The Government has previously refused to do this."
Chris Tomblin, chair of the Basingstoke Burner Action Campaign, said: "Building the incinerator would be like forcing us to eat beef during the BSE crisis".
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From the Basingstoke Observer. Thursday 1st June, 2000
CHINEHAM CAMPAIGN SHAPED TORY POLICY
An action group formed to oppose the rebuilding of a major new incinerator in Chineham has been credited with influencing the Conservative Party's new national policy on the issue.
The Tories announced this week that if the party gets into government at the next election, it will impose a moratorium on new incinerators in the UK until independent British scientific evidence proves they are safe.
Basingstoke Tory MP Andrew Hunter told the Observer that this policy has been developed partly as a result of the work done by the Basingstoke Burner Action Campaign (BBAC).
He said: "The Chineham campaign has had a knock-on effect nationally. The actions of the Basingstoke Burner Action Group has had an impact on the thinking of the Conservative party."
The Conservatives are now positioning themselves as the "greenest" of mainstream parties, promising compensation for residents living near incinerators and attacking Government proposals which they say will create 165 new incinerators around the country.
The controversial decision to rebuild and expand the existing Chineham incinerator was made by Hampshire county council last year. The BBAC fought the plans on health grounds.
BBAC spokesman, Chris Tomblin said: "It is very nice to be supported. I hope that the public will now come out of the closet and write to people like Andrew Hunter requesting that more be done."
The Conservatives' policy statement came as the Government announced a national Waste Strategy which focuses on recycling as the main route to tackling our rubbish mountains.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions denied that the Government had any plans to build 165 new incinerators, saying that this was a matter for local councils.
However she did concede that there may be a small increase in the need for this method of waste disposal incinerators in the future.
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From the Basingstoke Observer. Thursday 25th May, 2000
CANCER LINK FEARS OVER INCINERATOR
Hannah Leggett
Opposition to a new incinerator in Basingstoke was reignited this week after new research linked the chemicals produced by burned waste to cancer.
The Basingstoke Burner Action Campaign (BBAC), a pressure group formed in May 1998, told the Observer that it would consider taking legal action if the new Chineham incinerator goes ahead, after a leaked report from the US Environmental Protection Agency appeared to confirm the health danger of dioxin emissions produced by burned waste, identifying some as carcinogenic.
It also links low grade dioxin exposure to other health problems, such as hormonal changes and developmental defects in babies.
BBAC spokesman Chris Tomblin told the Observer: "We are looking into the legal possibility of putting a halt to the Chineham incinerator.
"We have the support of over 2,500 local residents, including MP Andrew Hunter."
Plans for a new energy recovery incinerator to be rebuilt on the existing site were given the go-ahead by Hampshire county council last year amid a storm of protest.
The old plant handled about 1.2 million tonnes of waste between 1969 and 1996, when it closed. In stark contrast, the new incinerator will be able to process 90,000 tonnes of household waste a year.
The contractor Hampshire Waste Services, says it will begin to dismantle the old incinerator in the next few weeks.
A Hampshire County Council spokeswoman said that the report was unlikely to change their position: "The report is based on incinerators used in the US and the UK tackles incineration in a different way. Here, we look at the health implications and, with regards to the Chineham incinerator, the council has assessed the health risks and believe they are likely to be insignificant."
The Chineham incinerator is one of 160 waste incinerators planned across the country over the next 20 years.
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