SEPA responds to biomass plant health claims
Dundee pupils will not be exposed to unsafe levels of cancer-causing particles from a proposed biomass plant at the city's harbour, the environment watchdog SEPA has insisted.
- By Bruce Robbins
- Published in the Courier : 01.06.10
- Published online : 01.06.10 @ 04.24pm
The agency gave an assurance that no potentially harmful emissions will escape from a biomass plant chimney.
Their comments came in the wake of claims that pupils at three Dundee primaries could be at risk from small particles likely to belch forth from the plant's stack.
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency said the plant proposed for the city's harbour area by Forth Energy will simply not be allowed to open until it has met all the safety standards deemed appropriate.
Ian Buchanan, area operations manager for SEPA, said the Scottish Government had drawn up a minimum safe level within which a biomass plant would be expected to operate.
He said a plant would be subjected to a stringent battery of tests designed to probe for any weaknesses, either in terms of emissions or where they might be expected to concentrate.
Two different computer modelling systems would be used to predict how the stack gas would disperse. This, he said, would take into account local conditions including the prevailing wind and Dundee's geography.
He said, "They would tell us the concentration of pollutants that would result and we would compare that with air quality standards we have for Dundee.
"Quite simply, if it is below the air quality standards limit then we could have a high level of confidence that human health and the environment will not be adversely affected.
"As the plant is built, there are other layers of protection in place. It would be continuously monitored for other pollutants.
"We would also require extractor testing of emissions that could go up the stack to find out what pollutants are there and what their concentration is.
"SEPA can also require environmental monitoring in the community to further validate the results.
"We will not issue a permit if we believe that any air quality standards might be breached."
Mr Buchanan also responded to claims that the pollution would increase because of new lorry journeys to the plant.
He added, "The statute that we use specifically says we are not allowed to issue a permit unless we can be certain that no significant pollution will be caused.
"No significant pollution, in this context, means nothing that can be harmful to human health or to the environment."
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