Stop Covanta building an EfW Incinerator plant at Rookery Pit South

American company Covanta Energy plan to build a giant Energy from Waste Incineration plant at Rookery Pit South, Bedfordshire.

The incinerator would burn approx 585,000 tonnes of waste a year from a huge catchment area including Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and potentially Milton Keynes, Northamptonshire, Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Windsor and Maidenhead.

Covanta’s own suggestion of vehicle movements are up to 900 a day (450 lorries) arriving and departing between 5am and 11pm - 6 days a week. The increased level of traffic will be above the capacity of the new A421 and the proposed route will see lorries travelling directly behind many Marston Moreteyne houses and the playing fields.

The location of the Incinerator would be in a unique rural setting in the heart of the Community Forest of Marston Vale, adjacent to The Marston Vale Country Park an important site for wildlife/wildlife habitats - and further surrounded by agricultural land. Rookery Pit South itself is also currently a haven for wildlife.

The Incinerator will be visible from much of the Marston Vale and beyond with the main building being roughly the height of the Cardington hangers and the chimney stack approx twice the height of the decommissioned brickwork chimneys.

There is a lack of clarity regarding emissions from the Incinerator chimney stack and the long term health implications for the communities in and around The Marston Vale.

To be economically viable Incinerators need to be constantly feed with waste – this would have long term implications for local waste disposal initiatives around re-using and re-cycling.

For further information and to download leaflets and posters please visit Marston Moreteyne Action Group’s website at www.mmetag.com