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Re: incinerator in Ireland
>>From: siobhan.dowling@oceanfree.net
>>Date: 24 Oct 1999 15:12:12 -0700
>>
>> Some of the councillors have mentioned
gasification and pyrolysis to
>us as possible options. Although we would be opposed to these
also on the
>basis that they do not tackle the source of the problem and
contribute to
>perpetuating both industries and society's wasteful practices,
we would
>like to actually know something about these processes.
These are processes that divide the combustion into two
stages. That is, the waste is partially combusted or gasified, and
the resulting gasses are burnt in another vessel, or higher in the same
vessel. Sometimes there is purification of the gasses before
burning. The important thing to consider is that the fundamentals
of what's happening are the same.
We know
>what they will say though- that the new incinerators have almost
no
>emissions, and that all the problems have been with the old
ones. What do
>we say about that?- I can think of some things- can you think of
some more?
They all say this. The most straightforward response is to
demand copies of the permits they will be applying for, which will
contain actual data on what they are asking permission to send up the
stack. Simple arithmetic will give you the pounds per year of the
major regulated pollutants. This is unlikely to seem like
"almost no emissions" to reasonable people. Usually it
will be found that the promoters intend to build a facility no cleaner
that required for minimal compliance with regulations. The question
of how clean an incinerator could theoretically be is immaterial.
I have seen it reported that people in Eire have a relatively low
dioxin burden in their bodies due to the absence of incinerators.
Are officials considering the implications of allowing this to
change?
am