Objectors turning up the heat on plans for waste incinerator

The campaign against a large incinerator for hazardous waste which a private company hopes to build in Kilcock, Co Kildare, is to be stepped up, with a public meeting tonight. The meeting will be addressed by a leading US expert on incineration and dioxin contamination, Prof Paul Connett of St Lawrence University, New York.

The meeting, at the Glenroyal Hotel, Maynooth, at 8 p.m., will also hear the views of a toxicologist, Dr Vyvyan Howard of Liverpool University, an authority on the effects of incineration on public health, particularly on infants.

It has been organised by the North Kildare/South Meath Alliance Against Incineration, which is leading the campaign against an incinerator proposed by Thermal Waste Management Ireland at Boycetown on the outskirts of the town. Kildare County Council rejected the company's planning application on 14 grounds, but the company appealed the decision to An Bord Pleanala, which has yet to issue its decision. There were more than 6,000 objections to the plan to process 100,000 tonnes of hazardous waste a year.

Companies using technology to act as a replacement for incineration, with fewer emissions, will also outline their operations. These include the Startech Corporation in California, which has developed a system for treating hazardous waste which it claims produces no significant emissions.

The alliance spokesman, Mr Mark Teevan, said there were no grounds for complacency despite the council's rejection of the proposal. For that reason it had sought international opinion on the effects of incineration. It also wants an oral hearing.

"Incinerators are very costly and only make a return when there is a continuous waste stream," he said. "They do not completely destroy waste, as many think. Up to a quarter is left in a highly toxic ash which has to be landfilled. They are also the major avoidable cause of dioxin pollution."