Dorset Council urges rejection of incinerator permit changes over ‘unacceptable risks’
Dorset Council has urged the Environment Agency to reject plans to allow Powerfuel Portland to burn more types of waste at its incinerator
Dorset Council has formally objected to proposed changes to the environmental permit for the Portland Waste Incinerator, warning the plans pose “unacceptable risks” to public health and the environment.
The response has been submitted to the Environment Agency as part of its consultation on Powerfuel Portland Limited’s application to vary its permit, which would allow a significant expansion in the types of waste burned at the site.
In a strongly worded covering letter, the leader of Dorset Council, Cllr Nick Ireland, said the authority has opposed the incinerator from the outset and remains firmly against its location on Portland.
“Whilst we appreciate that the Environment Agency are seeking some technical and public health considerations to the permit variation consultation, it would be remiss of me not to reiterate that Dorset Council has opposed the siting of a waste incinerator in this sensitive location from the outset,” he wrote.
The proposed variation would increase the permitted waste types by 68 categories, a move the council says fundamentally changes the nature of the operation.
“The approved permit allows primarily for non-hazardous refuse derived fuel,” Cllr Ireland said. “The addition of such a range of other waste types will alter the profile of the waste, the incineration process, combustion gases, and bottom ash.”
The council also raised concerns about the reliability of mixing different waste streams before incineration, warning it could lead to “hot spots” within the waste that would adversely affect emissions.
“We believe this variation poses unacceptable risks to public health and environmental quality, contrary to the principles of sustainable development and Dorset Council’s statutory duties,” the letter said.
Further concerns were raised about increased odour, nuisance and transport impacts, particularly on Portland residents and communities along transport routes to the site.
Cllr Ireland also highlighted the facility’s proximity to areas with National Landscape and World Heritage status, warning that the proposed changes increase uncertainty in an already sensitive environment.
He said: “The potential effects of a waste incineration process on an environment, much of which is under National Landscape and World Heritage designations, are not acceptable.”
The council leader added that Portland residents often feel decisions are imposed on them rather than shaped with their input.
“I feel that Portland is a community that at times feels like it is ‘done to’ rather than ‘listened to’ by government,” he wrote.
Concluding the submission, Cllr Ireland said the council “strongly believes” the permit variation application should be rejected.