December 12, 2008Friday, December 12, 2008
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Covanta Fined Again Over Dioxins! (2008)
Covanta of New Jersey, contracted by Dublin City Council for the proposed Waste-To-Toxins incinerator at Poolbeg, has exceeded allowable emission rate for dioxins and furans at it's incinerator in Pittsfield by nearly 350%.
Head back to your rashers if you trust BIFFO and Ireland's utterly compromised EPA to protect you from Dioxins. By the way, it's Ireland's Environment Minister's Green Party who said EPA-Ireland is utterly compromised.
The dedicated and honest taxpayer-funded employees at Dublin City Council have a secret contract with Covanta for the proposed Waste-To-Toxins incinerator at Poolbeg. Covanta also apparently seeks to prevent its workers from educating the public about its waste-to-toxins incinerators. DCC's democratically-challenged apparatchiks are more flexible than communist American workers. Why? Revolving doors? Citizenship?
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In September 2008, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection cited Covanta Energy for illegal emissions of toxic air pollutants at two different waste incinerators the company operates in the state.
DioxinOn September 26, 2008, the DEP issued an administrative consent order finding
- Covanta had exceeded the allowable emission rate for dioxins and furans at its incinerator in Pittsfield by nearly 350%,
The order also cited the Pittsfield facility for failing to report to the DEP other violations of its air quality permit occurring in January, February, and March 2008.
The DEP order fined Covanta $7,653.
- On the same day, the DEP issued a notice of noncompliance for toxic air emissions at Covanta’s Springfield facility in Agawam. (Where was Homer?).
- The DEP also found that Covanta had illegally failed to report these excess emissions to the state.
developing nervous system, the endocrine system, and reproductive functions. Chronic exposure to sulfur dioxide or nitrogen oxides can cause respiratory disease and premature death, and can aggravate existing heart disease.
For more information concerning these events, please consider using Skype to contact Covanta at
+1-973/882-7277 (phone) or
+1-973/882-7276 (fax).
Poolbeg incinerator, covanta, dioxin
Does Covanta Have Something To Hide?
http://www.cjcw.org/notice/Covanta_Ireland_open_letter_10-08.pdf
Extracts from Open Letter to Members of Irish Trade Unions, Community Activists, and Public Officials Concerning Covanta Energy
In May 2008, employees at Covanta’s incinerator in Rochester, Massachusetts voted in a government supervised election for representation by our union. Since that election, management has frustrated meaningful bargaining by proposing numerous intolerable contract demands, including:
- A rule broadly forbidding employees from providing “information” about the Company to “media representatives, governmental officials or other person,” including any “external attorney” or “investigator,” without management’s prior approval.
- We believe these policies improperly coerce workers from speaking out against any concerns they may have about ... the company’s operations.
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Thank you for your support, and please contact us for more information about Covanta Energy.
Campaign for Justice for Covanta Workers × 120 Bay State Drive × Braintree, Mass., USA 02184 www.cjcw.org × info@cjcw.org × 781.848.3740 (ph) × 781.848.4108 (fx) × October 2008
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Connolly Letter to Tony OrlandoTony Orlando is not to be confused in any way with Tony Soprano, another New Jersey waste business operator.
Covanta Fined for Toxic Nickel Emissions
This is Tony The Nano Rat.Tony's Cancer Took Just Six Months to Develop.
________________
Image: A Public Service
· Campaign for Justice for Covanta Workers
· www.cjcw.org
· Campaign for Justice for Covanta Workers
· www.cjcw.org
October 20, 2008
Pennsylvania Fines Covanta $45,600 for Toxic Nickel Emissions.
In a “Consent Assessment of Civil Penalty” issued by the Department on October 20, 2008, Covanta admitted that its conduct violated the state Air Pollution Control Act and agreed to pay the fine.
Nickel compounds are known human carcinogens, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). Noncancer effects of nickel compounds can include chronic bronchitis and reduced lung function in persons who have breathed high levels.
For more information concerning these events, please consider contacting Covanta at +1-973/882-7277 (ph.) or +1-973/882-7276 (fax).
Poolbeg incinerator, covanta, dioxin
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Waste-To-Toxins Employee Of The Month
Employee of the Month Tony Orlando, with Sam Zell.The fines of a few thousand dollars paid by Covanta for Dioxin pollution are so derisory they don't even qualify as a normal business risk.
Sam Zell owns about $666 million in Covanta stock. Billionaire mogul Zell sold his massive residential and commercial real estate empire in 2007 for $39 billion, or $39,000,000,000. Zell's worker, CEO Tony Orlando, was paid just under three million dollars in the year after all Covanta incinerators in New Jersey were fined for dioxin pollution. Covanta has a secret contract to run the Poolbeg Waste-To-Toxins incinerator.
Sam Zell owns about $666 million in Covanta stock. Billionaire mogul Zell sold his massive residential and commercial real estate empire in 2007 for $39 billion, or $39,000,000,000. Zell's worker, CEO Tony Orlando, was paid just under three million dollars in the year after all Covanta incinerators in New Jersey were fined for dioxin pollution. Covanta has a secret contract to run the Poolbeg Waste-To-Toxins incinerator.
Honest 19th Century SolutionsTuesday, December 9, 2008
There Is No Safe Level for Dioxins
There Is No Safe Level for Dioxins.
- For certain effects, including subtle behavioral impacts, a “no effect level” has yet to be established. In plain English this epa-speak translates into: There Is No Safe Level for Dioxins.
- Levels where effects are detectable in humans is considerably smaller than previously estimated before 2004. In plain English this epa-speak translates into: The EPA is saying that current legal standards for 'safe dioxins' are a farce, and the measurements are far too expensive so they are not done except for political spin.
- Several factors suggest a need to further evaluate the impact of these chemicals on humans at or near current background levels. In plain English this epa-speak translates into: George Bush's EPA Directors have told the EPA Scientists to shut up or be fired.
Dioxin Effects in Human Populations
Any increase in dioxins will make people sick.
EPA estimates that the amount of dioxin found in the tissues of the general human population closely approaches the levels at which adverse effects might be expected to occur.
- This range for cancer risk indicates an about 10-fold higher chance than estimated in EPA’s earlier (1994) draft of this reassessment.
Children and Other Groups of Concern
Fetuses, infants, and children may be more sensitive to dioxin exposure because of their rapid growth and development. It is not known if the children in the general population are experiencing adverse effects from dioxin.
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United States Environmental Protection Agency Information Sheet 2: Dioxin Reassessment, Scientific Highlights (2004):
Information Sheet 2: Dioxin Reassessment, Scientific Highlights, Page 4.
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United States Environmental Protection Agency Information Sheet 1: Summary of the Dioxin Reassessment, (2004):
EPA CONTACT:
Linda C. Tuxen, NCEA, ORD (8601D),
E-Mail:tuxen.linda@epa.gov Tel: 202-564-3332; FAX: 202-565-0090
Be aware that the Bush Administration has fired EPA personnel for being honest - so expect obfuscation in EPA reports. The incineration industry in the
There is a possibility that EPA-Ireland is totally honest and is not utterly compromised as stated by the Green Party of Ireland's Environment Minister. It is also possible the revolving doors at director level between EPA-Ireland, Indaver, Covanta/Energy Answers and “Independent Consultants” have no effect whatsoever. However for the flying pigs transporting dioxins a “no effect level” has yet to be established.
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CAUTION: The text is edited for clarity. Interpretations are in blue text. Edited EPA text is in black. See this URL for the original EPA reports. http://oaspub.epa.gov/eims/eimscomm.getfile?p_download_id=435880
Poolbeg incinerator, covanta, dioxin
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Switch Your Bins To Panda
- Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council deployed 20 staff from its household waste collection unit last week in a bid to address a €10 million hole in the authority’s finances after the desertion of more than half (32,000) of its customer base in the 20 months up to October.
- Industry sources believe a recent High Court action taken by the waste companies Greenstar and Panda raises questions about the incinerator’s viability.
- Don't feed the worms at Dublin City Council.
Waste shortfall puts pressure on Poolbeg plan
07 December 2008
http://www.thepost.ie/post/text/story.asp?document_id=38107&category_name=&version=print
Penalties apply if Dun LaoghaireRathdown does not supply enough waste for the incinerator, write Niamh Connolly and John Burke.
One of the four councils expected to supply waste to the planned Poolbeg incinerator may fail to meet its commitment, raising questions over the viability of the waste-to-energy project.
Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council (DLRCC) mayor, Cllr Tom Joyce, told The Sunday Business Post that the local authority might incur penalties for failing to supply enough waste to the incinerator, which was last week granted a licence by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Dublin City Council signed a contract in September 2007 with the joint US/Danish consortium - Dublin Waste to Energy Ltd - to design, build, finance and operate the Poolbeg plant. Dublin City Council coordinates the Dublin waste strategy on behalf of the capital’s four local authorities.
The four councils have under taken to supply over 300,000 tonnes of waste to the incinerator annually, as part of the deal, which is a key element of the Dublin waste management strategy. But the amount of waste being collected by DLRCC has fallen dramatically since the agreement was signed.
The authority deployed 20 staff from its household waste collection unit last week in a bid to address a €10 million hole in the authority’s finances after the desertion of more than half (32,000) of its customer base in the 20 months up to October. DLRCC’s tonnage of ‘black bin’ waste fell from 65,000 to 18,000 in the period.
In a briefing to councillors in October, Dun Laoghaire council manager Owen Keegan said the authority was likely to review its continued participation in the capital’s waste plan, due to financial concerns. A spokesman for the council said last week that no such review was under way.
‘‘The amount of waste being collected by us is considerably less now that the amount we were originally supposed to contribute, and it’s lessening by the day,” Joyce said. ‘‘We will have to take a look at whether it is in our interest to remain in the Dublin waste plan,” the Fine Gael councillor said.
A key ‘put or pay’ clause in the September 2007 deal requires the councils to guarantee the waste annually, or make loss-of-profit payments to the consortium behind the Poolbeg incinerator.
Meanwhile, British-based waste incineration company Covanta said it was prepared to start construction on the €250 million Poolbeg plant early in the new year. [galwaytent edit: Covanta is not British based. Covanta is based in New Jersey; its Irish operations at Poolbeg and at Rathcoole are firewalled in the Virgin Islands and in Luxembourg]
The company said conditions attached to the licence issued by the EPA had not yet been calculated, but ‘‘will not make the plant financially unviable’’.
Covanta is now reading through the 200 conditions to work out the implications; a spokesman said work was due to start on the plant ‘‘during the first quarter of 2009’’.
‘‘On first read, Covanta is confident it can meet all these conditions. Like the EPA, it too wants to ensure the plant operates safely and legally. We also welcome the condition to liaise extensively with the local community,” the company said.
Asked about industry speculation that the plant could be unviable due to changing economic conditions and waste management practices, he said: ‘‘There is no question of scaling down, withdrawing or slowing down - there is no hesitation with the incinerator for Poolbeg.”
Nonetheless, industry sources believe a recent High Court action taken by the waste companies Greenstar and Panda raises questions about the incinerator’s viability.
Thetwo companies are challenging Dublin City Council’s attempts to ensure that collection is carried out by the council or a collector under the council’s control.
Dublin City Council said last week that it did not anticipate work on the incinerator would start until the second half of next year.
Fianna Fail backs the incinerator, but Green Party deputy Ciaran Cuffe criticised the move by council officials to sign the contract. He accused them of pre-empting a decision on the Poolbeg incinerator by making financial commitments before approval for the plant had been granted.
The 600,000-tonne incinerator needs waste from the four regional authorities, Dublin City Council, South Dublin Council, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown and Fingal, to ensure cost efficiency. Panda, which operates in the east from Dundalk to Dun Laoghaire, has just signed a contract to build the largest recycling facility in Ireland, in a move that raises further questions about the capacity of the incinerator.
The €3.25 million warehouse at Beauparc, Co Meath, would increase Panda’s ability to achieve up to 90 per cent recycling of all the waste it handles, according to the company’s general manager, Brian McCabe.
Minister for the Environment John Gormley came under fire last week over his failure to take action to prevent the incinerator in his own Dublin South East constituency.
The controversy could damage Gormley’s electoral prospects next time around, on the basis that he has opposed the project for the past ten years, but stands accused of being ‘‘ineffectual’’ in government.
Gormley was one of more than 2,000 individuals and environmental groups that lodged objections to the incinerator with An Bord Pleanala in October.
While Gormley insists that his ministerial powers do not allow him to interfere with the process, the Labour Party’s Ruairi Quinn said the minister had been told last summer that it was legally possible to seek a review by Dublin City Council of its waste management plan.
The Labour Party wants to pursue a judicial review of the plan.
Quinn said Labour’s legal counsel, Finbarr O’Malley, had advised that the Waste Management Act, 1996, section 24c, allowed the minister to intervene using this mechanism.
Such a review would reveal that the capacity of the incinerator ‘‘was excessive, because the evidence pointed in the direction that there would be less to incinerate than the amount and the scale of the plant in Ringsend [would allow],” said Quinn.
Gormley last week warned Dublin City Council that it would be ‘‘unwise’’ to proceed with the project, and he is taking policy steps to ensure that the incinerator is not economically viable by promoting mechanical and biological waste treatment and imposing levies on landfill and incineration.
Despite the speculation, a statement from DLRCC said: ‘‘Given the fact that Dun LaoghaireRathdown is part of the regional waste management strategy, the direct answer is that we will cooperate with our partners in Dublin City, South Dublin and Fingal County Council, as agreed, on all matters related to waste management.” Covanta Violations Lawsuits Fines Threats, Dublin Bay Incinerator, Poolbeg Incinerator, Money, Panda,
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