A campaign group has been denied a judicial review into the Environment Agency’s decision to grant a permit to the joint operators of the Rivenhall Energy from Waste (EfW) plant in Essex.
‘Parishes Against Incinerators’, also known as ‘No Essex Incinerator Ltd’, confirmed on Thursday (October 15) that a judge had refused them permission to move to stage 2 of the judicial review process.
The rejection of a judicial review is expected to help the project move to financial close which could then mean construction moves a step closer.
Stack height
The campaign group had launched legal action in July after the Environment Agency granted the plant’s joint operators – Indaver and Gent Fairhead – a permit for a reduced stack (chimney) height from 58 metres to 35 metres (see letsrecycle.com story).
The proposed layout of the Rivenhall EfW plant
Battle
Nick Unsworth who led the PAIN campaign group, said: “We have fought a long hard battle against the waste incinerator plant. We have been supported every step of the way by residents in the seven villages around Coggeshall that we represent.
“We put Gent Fairhead on notice that we will always be absolutely on our mettle with regard to protecting the environmental integrity of our villages. We may have lost this battle but the war is not over.”
Development
A joint statement from Indaver and Gent Fairhead said: “We are pleased that the Environment Agency’s permit decision has been upheld by the High Court. The hearing allowed the arguments for and against the permit to be considered objectively so that any doubts have been removed.
“We now look forward to continuing with the development of this project”
“We now look forward to continuing with the development of this project which will bring a significant investment to the area’s economy”.
History
The Agency’s decision to grant Indaver and Gent Fairhead a permit comes after a long-standing debate over the height of the chimney.
Gent Fairhead was first granted planning permission for the plant in 2010 with a stack height of 35 metres.
The plant will form part of an Integrated Waste Management Facility with the capacity to treat up to 850,000 tonnes a year, which will include a materials recycling facility, an anaerobic digestion plant and an MBT plant.
Stack height
In 2016, the Agency refused an environmental permit for the facility, saying Gent Fairhead failed to show how it would use Best Available Techniques to minimise emissions from the facility, mainly because of the proposed chimney stack of 35 metres.
At that time the Agency said the plant should incorporate a higher stack of a minimum of 70 metres, which was more in keeping with facilities of a similar size (see letsrecycle.com story).
In 2018, pan-European waste company Indaver entered the project with an agreement which saw it become joint operator of the facility.
Accepted
In January 2020, the Environment Agency said it was “proposing to accept” the permit variation application from Gent and Indaver, subject to a public consultation on the proposed changes.
This was finalised in June, which led to the campaign group seeking judicial review.
PAIN applied for the review over concerns that the low height of the stack will affect air quality on homes and have a “catastrophic impact” on the surrounding area and climate change. It also expressed concerns over the effects the development would have on the environment if the permit went unchallenged.
The group said it was granted permission in August to move to step 2 of the judicial review process, but was last week denied permission to move to step 3. Now it is to “focus on scrutiny and monitoring of the developer’s adherence to planning and environmental conditions at the site”.
The post Judicial review denied into Rivenhall EfW permit appeared first on letsrecycle.com.
Source: letsrecycle.com Waste Managment
