Waiting on incinerator

Mark Metcalf was described as “the most published author of pre WW1 soccer books”, but he’s also a prolific author on other subjects as seen from his website archive and blog.

Mark Metcalf’s incinerator articles “persuaded” the former Health Protection Agency, (HPA), to promise a study into infant death rates around incinerators in 2011 and the findings of that study are still unpublished five years later, as seen from Chris Burn’s article, (The Star, March 9).

The HPA failed the nation on the incinerator issue and those who believed the HPA’s opinion that emissions cause little or no harm to health without bothering to check data, such as the Environment Agency, primary care trusts, councils and incinerator operators like Veolia, have been duped.

ONS data shows higher infant death rates in electoral wards exposed to incinerator emissions and also worsening of such rates in councils exposed to such emissions after incinerators start operating.

Five of the 22 incinerators in the unpublished study are in the West Midlands, and here in Shrewsbury a new incinerator has been operational for a year after the planning inspector wrongly said that high infant death rates resulted from low socio-economic status, and reversed the refusal of planning permission for Veolia’s Harlescott incinerator.

Michael Ryan

by email