Campaigners drop Lostock EfW challenge

The 600,000 tonnes-per-year capacity plant is due to be constructed on the site of a former coal-fired power station by Tata Chemicals Europe and energy firm E.ON Energy From Waste UK Limited. Once completed, the plant will produce around 60MW of power from municipal solid waste and industrial and commercial waste.

The Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) approved Tata Chemicals Europe and energy firm E.ONs plans to build the facility in October 2012 following a public enquiry (see letsrecycle.com story).

However, opponents of the plant, Campaign group CHAIN (Cheshire Anti-Incinerator Network), challenged DECCs decision, claiming that the facility would affect traffic and air quality in the surrounding areas.

The Judicial Review application hearing was due to take place last week (May 1) at the High Court in Manchester. However, CHAIN member Liam Byrne had his request to defer the hearing refused by the court, after which the Judicial Review application was abandoned.

According to CHAIN, the Judicial Review application was discontinued because the campaign group did not have the financial resources to continue the challenge.

Regret

Brian Cartwright, chairman of CHAIN said: We regret having to take the decision to discontinue our legal challenge on behalf of the people of Northwich but there was no realistic alternative. Quite simply, despite our strenuous efforts, CHAIN did not have the financial resources to continue. We arrived at that conclusion after two hearings at the High Court in Manchester where we represented ourselves and were up against qualified barristers representing the government and Tata/E-ON. It must be stressed that the strong case that we know we had against the waste incinerator was not tested in court.

He added: CHAIN will continue to use every lawful method it has at its disposal to prevent this project from proceeding because of the harm it could cause to the health of the people of Northwich for decades and the potential damage to our environment. We are not going away.

A Tata Chemicals spokesperson said: The Company has encouraged a full debate over energy-from-waste because its an issue which is not fully understood and it is right that people are able to ask questions. But we believed this application for Judicial Review was entirely without merit and aimed simply to delay the project further.

The proposals have received significant public and expert scrutiny and have been examined fully in an extensive Public Inquiry, leading to a decision from government to grant permission. We are now able to turn our attention to securing a long term supply of fuel for the proposed Sustainable Energy Plant at Lostock.

A subsidiary of India-based firm Tata Chemicals, the Tata Chemicals Europe is due to construct the facility at its existing soda ash factory at the Lostock Works industrial site.

According to the firm, the incinerator will produce enough power to supply 80,000 homes as well as create 50 permanent jobs and around 500 jobs during construction.

The Tata Chemicals and E.ON had been in the running for West London Waste Authoritys 25-year 480 million waste treatment contract, which would have seen waste transported from West London for processing at the proposed Lostock facility. However, the consortium unexpectedly pulled out of the bidding process in March 2013, leaving SITA UK as the sole bidder (see letsreycle.com story).