80 Activists arrested in United Kingdom while protesting against waste incinerator expansion

15/04/2009 - in Nottingham, United Kingdom, more than 80 activists were arrested on Easter Monday while protesting against the expansion of the waste-to-energy incinerator of Eastcroft. "According to Nottingham police, the demonstrators were apprehended on suspicion of entering prohibited areas and of conspiracy to commit criminal damage to an industrial facility", reports The Daily Telegraph. The action was aimed against the waste incinerator of Eastcroft, which at present burns 150,000 tons of waste a year. WRG (Waste recycling Group), the company that owns the installation, had recently applied for an extension to 250,000 tons per year.

 

Action committee

Jon Beresford, chairman of the NAIL (Nottingham Against Incineration and Landfill) action committee, said residents are furious after the government gave go-ahead for the planned expansion. Apparently the police blocked off a number of roads and subsequently picked up dozens of demonstrators. According to local press, the police were well prepared. A number of agents had even had to cancel their planned vacation. Besides NAIL, several other organizations support the battle against the Eastcroft waste incinerator, such as Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, Climate Camp and UK-WiN, the United Kingdom Without Incineration Network.

 

Emissions

The management of the Eastcroft plant estimates that, after the expansion, the facility will legally be allowed to emit the following quantities per year:

• 400,000 kilograms of nitrogen dioxide (responsible for global warming)
• 100,000 kilograms of sulfur dioxide (causes respiratory complaints, smog and acid rain)
• 100,000 kilograms of carbon monoxide (poisoning at inhalation, odor nuisance, causing cancer; transforms into carbon dioxide, contributing to global warming)
• 20,000 kilograms of dust (breathing problems, cancer, allergy; especially dangerous is the particulate matter that nests itself deeply into the lungs)
• 20,000 kilograms of hydrogen chloride (respiratory complaints; causing smog and acid rain)
• 2,000 kilograms of hydrogen fluoride (respiratory complaints; causing smog and acid rain)
• 20,000 kilograms of volatile organic substances (smog and acidification)
• 100 kilograms of mercury (extremely toxic; infestation of the brain, kidneys and the nervous system)
• 100 kilograms of cadmium and thallium (extremely toxic; infestation of the brain, kidneys and the nervous scheme)
• 1,000 kilograms of other heavy metals (extremely toxic)
• 200 milligrams of dioxins and furans (causing cancer; ingestion of 1 mg is already lethal)

These data do not take into account eventual violations of the limit values, which are allowed for each of the above mentioned toxic substances during up to 60 hours per year.

 

For more photographs of the Eastcroft incinerator, see the article "Views of the Monster" on Indymedia UK. For more photographs of the protest against this incinerator, see the following articles on Indymedia UK: 1, 2, 3.

 

Sources: UPI, Nottingham Evening Post, NAIL