Deeside incinerator set to be granted environmental permit but only after you have given your views

Natural Resources Wales are set to grant an environmental permit for the controversial incinerator planned for Deeside.

NRW received the permit application from Wheelabrator Technologies Inc in October 2014 for a facility which would burn waste to produce electricity.

Following an in-depth assessment, which included public consultation, NRW is now ‘minded’ to grant the permit, unless new relevant information comes to light.

A consultation on the draft permit runs from 10 September until 14 October 2015.

Drop-in session

NRW are inviting members of the public to a drop-in session in Deeside Leisure Centre on Tuesday 22 September 2015 (1.30pm – 7pm), to give their views on the draft permit and provide relevant information for NRW’s consideration.

A permit will only be granted if NRW are satisfied that the company’s detailed plans demonstrate that it will comply with environmental laws, and can operate without harming the environment.

The proposed facility would accept up to 200,000 tonnes of non-recyclable household, industrial and commercial waste per year from all over north Wales.

Much of the waste will be transported by road to Deeside adding a large number of waste carrying HGV’s to the already congested roads system.

Flintshire Councillors passed the incinerator plans after a tied vote, chair of the planning committee had the casting vote and voted in favour of the waste burning plant, weeks later the same councillor was quoted in media articles raising concerns about congestion in Deeside should John Summers High school close.

Sian Williams, Head of Operations for North Wales, NRW, said:

“We have studied this application in great detail and are now minded to grant a permit to allow it to operate.

 “We have consulted with specialist health organisations such as Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board and Public Health Wales on the plans to investigate whether the facility could have any impact on people’s health.

“As part of the process, we are now consulting local people on the draft permit, inviting them to provide us with any information which has not come to light to date that we should consider.

“We will only grant the permit if we are satisfied that the proposed facility can operate without harming the environment or the health of people nearby.”

A copy of Wheelabrator Technologies’s application and the NRW draft permit is also available to view at NRW’s Buckley Office, Chester Road, Buckley, Flintshire, CH7 3AJ.