Green Party delivers 'look before you leap' warning on incinerator

FACILITY PROJECTED TO BURN 450,000 TONNES OF RESIDUAL BLACK BAG WASTE A YEAR

- By STUART ARNOLD Local democracy reporter [e-mail]

COUNCILS engaged with a scheme to bring a new household waste incinerator to Teesside have been given a “look before you leap” warning.

The Tees Valley Energy Recovery Facility (TVERF) is projected to burn 450,000 tonnes of residual black bag waste a year generating electricity and is due to be sited on land at Teesworks near Grangetown.

A decision is due soon on whether to award a near 30-year contract for the proposed facility to waste operator Viridor with the local authorities involved, who are sharing the procurement costs, each giving their own sign-off.

Green Party councillors in North Yorkshire said they had “recent lived experience” with a similar facility, Allerton Waste Recovery Park (AWRP) - currently operated by the firm Thalia and commissioned by North Yorkshire County Council and City of York Councils - and the “consequences” of a long-term contract.

The AWRP will be familiar to many Teessiders as it occupies a prominent position just off the A1 and its plume stack can be seen by motorists when driving south from the A19.

An open letter co-signed by councillors from the Green Party group on North Yorkshire County Council to Darlington Council, Durham County Council, Hartlepool Council, Middlesbrough Council, Newcastle City Council, Redcar and Cleveland Council and Stockton Council said there had been 69 environmental permit breaches last year.

It also cited a City of York Council executive report which said resources for supervision and management of the contracts signed in North Yorkshire were “greater than originally assessed”.