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Who Are The Louth People Against Incineration?
The Louth People Against Incineration was formed 4 years ago to prevent the adoption of the Waste Management Plan for the Northeast region as it contained the provision for a municipal waste Incinerator. Specifically, this flawed plan claimed that people in the Northeast region will only recycle 43% of their waste. Landfill accounting for 18% leaves 39% to be dealt with by incineration. This plan further failed to address the known health implications directly associated with incineration. The three other counties in the region - Monaghan, Cavan and Meath, voted for the plan without a full public debate and on the understanding that the incinerator/thermal treatment/gasification plant would be located in County Louth.
A group of concerned citizens aware of the dangers that incineration posed for both human health and the agri/food industry formed L.P.A.I. to prevent the adoption of the waste plan which included incineration. A petition was conducted, which collected 22,000 signatures in North Louth and 25,000 in Drogheda and West Meath, opposing the introduction of incineration. L.P.A.I. also engaged in a public awareness programme concerning the health effects of dioxin and other toxic emissions from incinerators. The safe alternative of "Reduce, Re-use and Recycle" was also promoted, but was rejected by the County Louth Environmental committee.
In the course of this campaign by the LPAI, the "state of the art" incinerator that was examined by councillors during their visit to Germany in 2000 to investigate the introduction of incineration to Louth was itself closed down because of excessive toxic-dioxin emissions during this time. In the intervening years from the date of that visit, there have been many instances of supposedly technically advanced incinerators grossly exceeding their permitted emission levels. This confirms the point that there is no such thing as a safe incinerator.
Despite the hard sell of the pro incinerator lobby, a majority of the county councillors voted against the pro-incinerator waste plan. However, the Fianna Fail/PD government refused to accept the democratic will of the people of county Louth. The introducted the Waste Management (amendment) Bill 2001, which removes the powers of County Councillors and confers these same powers in the hands of a non-elected and unaccountable County Manager.
This is the current state of play.
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