January 29, 2009

Europe to prosecute Britain for breaking air pollution laws

Europe to prosecute Britain for breaking air pollution laws

Environment commissioner begins proceedings for failure to reduce particulate pollution from traffic and industry

A bus stands in heavy traffic in Trafalgar Square, London

A bus stands in heavy traffic in Trafalgar Square, London. Photograph: Tim Graham/Getty images

Europe is prosecuting Britain for consistently breaking air pollution laws and endangering people's health in urban areas.

Legal proceedings against the government were started today by the EU environment commissioner, Stavros Dimas, and could result in unlimited daily fines.

Britain had been given nearly 10 years by Europe to reduce its levels of the minute, sooty "particulate matter" known as PM10s, which are mainly emitted by industry and traffic.

But EU documents seen by the Guardian earlier this month showed that Britain had been breaking the regulations, now part of UK law, for three years. More than 20 cities and conurbations were found to have dangerous levels of particulate matter between 2005-7.

In a statement, the commission said we have "started infringement proceedings against the United Kingdom for failing to comply with the EU's air quality standard for dangerous airborne particles known as PM10. These particles can cause asthma, cardiovascular problems, lung cancer and premature death."

The decision to take Britain to the court of justice will embarrass the government because it has had since 1999 to come up with a plan to reduce PM10 levels, but has failed to do so. All other major EU countries have submitted plans and successfully negotiated a time extension.

This week the government launched a consultation on the issue, but this was widely seen in Europe as a delaying tactic. The UK has two months to respond to the EU's letter before further action may be taken.

Dimas showed his exasperation with Britain. "Air pollution has serious impacts on health and compliance with the standards must be our utmost priority. It is essential that where time extensions are not applicable the standards are fully respected."

Air pollution near many roads in British cities averages well over twice the UN's World Health Organisation maximum recommended level. If Britain is to reduce PM10 levels it will have to substantially reduce traffic congestion, which could mean unpopular congestion charging and low emission zones.

A spokesman at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: "The UK, along with other member states, intends to apply for a time extension to meet PM10 air quality limits. Twenty-four out of 27 member states also reported breaches of the limits in 2007. We expect to apply for this extension following a public consultation that began on Tuesday 27 January."

But Caroline Lucas, leader of the Green party and MEP for the South East, said the move by the commission was a "damning indictment of Labour's aspirations to position itself as having any credibility on the environment at all". And she said it sent a clear signal to ministers who were going ahead with plans to expand Heathrow airport despite concerns that more planes will push pollution levels up even further.

"Legal action is long overdue," added Simon Birkett, director of Clean Air for London. "This should be a real wake up call to Britain to take air pollution seriously."

In a coincidence, the government also released data on air quality for 2008, showing that particulate pollution varied from year to year, and while there was a long-term decline, the fall was not fast enough to meet the new limits.

A Defra report said that "in urban areas, air pollution in 2008 was recorded as moderate or higher on 27 days on average per site, compared with 24 days in 2007, and 59 days in 1993".

January 21, 2009

SOLD! Anglo & DDDA Hole In Ground Bought By Taxpayers for €450 Million.



The October 2008 guess is correct. Over the weekend patriot BIFFO was sent another bag of chips from Seanie who told patriot Brian to add the salt and vinegar. Seanie was safely outside the jurisdiction in South Africa, perhaps investigating BEE schemes and direct flights to Bolivia.

By nationalising Anglo Irish Bank the taxpayers have just bought a hole in the ground for €450,000,000. The former Ringsend glass recycling site where 300 workers were fired is now worth perhaps €45 million, or less. The exact value is a secret and even if Anglo Irish Bank published a value who would believe them?

Is this Galway Tent directed bank-and-developer-rescue a legal theft of more than €400 million of taxpayer's cash?

The cross-contaminated(a) Dublin Developer's Autocracy (DDDA) is a co-investor in the site along with the Becbay group of property developers. The Dublin Developer's Autocracy dictates planning permission in Poolbeg and denied a conflict of interest, at a June 2008 statutory public "consultation" event.

Anglo Irish Bank provided €288 million for the site (Did Mr Quinn initially invest €288 million in Anglo?). One of the developers is obliged to pay seventeen percent interest (17%) on money borrowed from someone. Perhaps to someone with an interest in Bolivian airlines.

For Sale: Hole In Toxic Ground Beside Europe's Biggest Incinerator

The site has been excavated and is now literally a hole in the ground, possibly even below current sea level, yet somewhat higher than the scuttled Anglo Irish Bank.

___________
(a) The site is in a contaminated Dublin City refuse dump situated Banana Republic style on Sandymount Strand and on the foreshore of Dublin Bay.

Money, Dublin Docklands Authority, Dublin Developers Autocracy, Anglo Irish Bank, Hiding Evidence, Poolbeg, The Big Lie,

January 20, 2009

Poolbeg Incinerator - Organisational Deception

"Naked deception is perfectly legal in Ireland"

Ireland's legal system, from the point of view of an honest discussion on incineration, is a threat. Ireland's legal system, from the point of view of international investors, is a joke.

The promoters of the Poolbeg Incinerator seem to be steeped in Ireland's culture of legal deception. Postulated examples of this are here (a). This deception may cause one hundred thousand man-years of reduced life expectancy. There is no way to be sure as the promoters seem to be curious as regards to protecting the public interest.

An explanation of Ireland's culture of deception is here: Credibility shredded by mess of Anglo Irish. In January 2009 The Financial Times called Ireland a banana republic. The description in 2005 by the New York Times of Dublin as “the Wild West of European finance” was widely revived. The full text is posted in the first comment to this blog posting.


Submission to Bord Pleanala Oral Hearing
Poolbeg Incinerator - April 2007.

________
(a) Check all facts yourself and then form your own opinion.

Dublin Bay Incinerator, Dublin City Council, Poolbeg Incinerator, The Big Lie
The Big Lie, Dublin City Council, Dublin Bay Incinerator, Poolbeg Incinerator,

January 19, 2009

Big Lie Technique – Property Report - Fianna Fail Connection to CBRE

Did DCC Mislead The Oral Hearing (Poolbeg Incinerator)?





CBRE presented evidence to the Bord Pleanala Oral Hearing in April 2007. CBRE was paid to present this evidence - a property report- by the promoters of the Poolbeg Incinerator. It appears to be a fairytale, consistent with Big Lie spin:

  1. Hard facts are missing,
  2. DCC obstructs access to data,
  3. CBRE's charts are highly misleading (as a professional researcher would know).

In August 2008 Senator Shane Ross reported (see blue text below) a significant link between CBRE and Fianna Fail. This begs the question: Is CBRE also a member of the Galway Tent? Feel free to email any insights or corrections to galwaytent@gmail.com


CBRE And Fianna Fail

-
Peter Malone chairs property company, CBRE Gunne.

CBRE Chairman Peter Malone ticks a few appropriate boxes. He is a well-known hotelier -- not an engineer -- and was the boss of Jurys; but Peter is also a favourite of politicians. Apart from being parachuted into the NRA chair by ministerial patronage, he has served as chairman of semi-state Bord na Mona, was a member of the review body on higher public sector remuneration and chairs property company, CBRE Gunne.

What is interesting about CBRE Gunne is that they gave Fianna Fail generous donations in 2004 and 2005. The NRA annual report tells you none of this.

Read more at “M50 directors unmasked” by Shane Ross, Sunday August 31 2008



Higher Public Sector Remuneration Review


_____________
2)
Phoenix Magazine comments challenge the credibility of the CBRE researcher - the professional who presented the property report under direction of the incinertor promoters.

" .. the players who peddled the property guff for so long - the banks, developers and estate agents - are in shock. At this point a special mention must go to the likes of Marie Hunt of CBRE ... "
The Phoenix Magazine, Annual 2008, page 138.


The Big Lie, Dublin City Council, Dublin Bay Incinerator, Poolbeg Incinerator,

Big Lie Technique – Property Chart - Incinerator Promoters

Big Lie Technique – Property Chart

The promoters of the Poolbeg Incinerator appear to use the Big Lie Technique in public communications, either accidentally or otherwise. This property chart is just one relatively simple example.


This chart either accidentally, or otherwise, breaks established guidelines for the visual presentation of information.



Whilst not necessarily designed to be so, the chart is a classic piece of misinformation. This would tend to make the chart consistent with the Big Lie Technique. Having spent €19,000,000 on a team of experts it is reasonable to expect the promoters of the Poolbeg Incinerator checked their contractor’s work and actively approved the chart. Thus any possible claims or excuses of honest mistakes are not really credible. If the promoters are not credible on a relatively simple piece of information how can they be trusted to have fully & professionally evaluated Incineration? How can they be trusted to run a dangerously complex incinerator? Any mistakes when running the incinerator will damage people’s health and shorten each life in the city by months to years.


Observations such as the following support the view that the chart is consistent with The Big Lie methodology:


  • Misleading: The mixed-up time units on the X axis are unannounced and incredibly misleading. (The red and green lines have been added here in order to highlight the distortion).
  • Withheld/Omitted: Raw data is not proactively provided in the report, nor in any supplements, a minimal professional expectation.
  • Withheld/Omitted (2007): Data is withheld – even after requests. Raw data for the chart is not available, despite repeated requests in 2007.

  • Withheld/Omitted (2008): No raw data was provided in 2008, despite promises made in December 2008. The potential excuse that the data is proprietary no longer applies.

  • Withheld/Omitted: Statistical Corrections for the property bubble
  • Withheld/Omitted: Professional comments on how the property bubble distorts the report (ex: Japan)
  • Withheld/Omitted: The US Census covering a population of 300,000,000 drew directly opposite conclusions to those of the incinerator promoters. This is omitted.

If the data does not actually exist and can not be provided is the chart actually a lie?

If the chart is consistent with the Big Lie Technique can the public trust the promoters?

Is trusting the promoters a bigger risk than trusting Anglo-Irish Bank? The incinerator directly threatens people’s health.


The Big Lie, Poolbeg Incinerator, Dublin Bay Incinerator, Dublin City Council,

Incinerator Promoters Credibility is an $8 Billion Question

Incinerator Promotors vs Anglo-Irish Bank



Poolbeg Incinerator Promoters Credibility is in Question

It is difficult to establish how credible the incinerator’s promoters are. Are the promoters of the Poolbeg Incinerator any more credible than the directors of Anglo Irish Bank? Some of the information the promoters have provided to the public, or possibly withheld from the public for whatever reason, combined with other possible elements of The Big Lie Technique do not tend to inspire confidence in the promoter’s credibility.


Why Credibility Matters

Anglo Irish has grievously damaged Ireland’s Global Trust Rating. The peers of the incinerator promoters include Anglo Irish Bank, FAS, The EPA, An Board Pleanala, The HSE, The DDDA developer’s autocracy, the NRA, Dublin Port Company and so forth.

At director level, this group appears to be strongly linked with Fianna Fail. Along with many others this insular group seems to be loosely referred to as the The Galway Tent. The Galway Tent culture associated with some of this group has apparently misdirected national resources for the past eight years, totally wrecking the potential of the economy for perhaps a further ten years.

Only one view on the Poolbeg Incinerator has been presented to the public at a cost to taxpayers of €19,000,000. The promoter’s reports and claims have not apparently been subjected to any due diligence or peer review by a credible independent authority. The EPA, the HSE and An Bord Pleanala appear to be driven at director level by political appointees of Fianna Fail, so it’s naïve to suggest they are independent enough to robustly protect the public interest. Entities within the incineration industry provide further employment to these director-level public officials, a brass-necked conflict of interest denied by the promoters. The industry has also placed its employees into director level positions at some of these bodies – the poacher becomes policeman. The expensive experts used by the promoters were paid by the promoters, so it’s also naïve to suggest they are independent.

A monstrous white elephant implemented in the form of an ugly waste-to-toxins factory sitting in Dublin Bay is a fitting monument to the possibly self-serving members of the Galway Tent.

Trusting the promoters is too big a risk - the Poolbeg incinerator directly threatens people’s health. BSEM and WHO data suggests this is perhaps 100,000 man-years of reduced life expectancy between 2012 to 2027.

America’s EPA prices a human life at about eight million dollars. Technology is rapidly developing – within 10 year it’s likely that health damage will be traceable directly to the specific signatures of the pollution pumped out by the Poolbeg waste-to-toxins incinerator.

The financial risk from incineration health claims(a) could exceed the billions in bad-debt write-offs currently hidden from public view at Anglo-Irish Bank.



Future Court Cases From Traceable Micron Particles: $8 Billion



Nobody Believed Anglo-Irish Either


__________________
a) Financial risk from incineration health claims: For 100 man-years per human life the taxpayer liability is eight thousand million dollars, or $8,000,000,000.
The Big Lie, Waste-To-Toxins, wastetoenergy, Dublin City Council, Poolbeg Incinerator, Dublin Bay Incinerator,

Big Lie Technique – Property Data Is Withheld

Big Lie Technique – Property Data Is Withheld

The promoters of the Poolbeg Incinerator appear to use the Big Lie Technique in public communications, either accidentally or otherwise.

Example: Promotors Report on Impact of Incinerator on Dublin Property Prices.


Institutional Withholding of Data.

Bord Pleanala, Oral Hearing, 2007:

  • Requests for raw data used by the promoters were made.
  • The data was not provided.

December 2008, Public Meeting in Sandymount:

Senior public employees appeared to state the property report used by the Incinerator Promotors was accurate and not misinformation and not misleading.

  • Requests for raw data used by the promoters were made in person to the DCC South East Area Manager and her work-colleague. Promises to supply the requested data were apparently made.
  • More than six weeks later these promises to provide the data have not been acted on by either of the two public officials who made the promises. It seems no follow up communication of any type was made to the address they requested.

This appears to support the view that there is an institutional policy of withholding pertinent and material information from the public.

This apparent institutional policy appears to be consistent with The Big Lie Technique.

-------------

Dublin City Council, The Big Lie, Poolbeg Incinerator,

January 17, 2009

Poolbeg Incinerator - What are Covanta, DCC, Dong, RPS, EPA and Others Hiding?


One Page Summary of Pollution is Withheld

The operators of the proposed waste-to-toxins factory in Dublin Bay do not publish a clear single A4 page summary of the pollution from their incinerator.


Pattern of Not Honestly Answering Questions
Each person you query cynically refers you to another entity in their firewalled organisation and to thousands of pages of a politically compiled "EIS", a perhaps deliberately obfuscated set of documentation. There appears to be a consistent pattern here across people and across entities of deferring the question to others who are never available. This repeated pattern by different people in different organisations is very curious.


Why Is There No Summary?
A clear single page summary could reassure the public and definitively answer concerns on dioxins, CO2, NOx, metallic microparticles, nanoparticles, secondary particulates and the vast range of other currently known pollutants. So why is a clear summary not widely circulated? Does the Tobacco Industry provide any clues?

The lack of a clear summary is a significant and very possibly a deliberate omission or withholding of pertinent and material information. It seems something significant is being hidden. As the promotors have spent at least €20,000,000 of your money on experts and PR there is no credible reason for this cynical decision.


Deliberate Confusion Tactics?
Proposing that Joe-Six-Pack takes hours to search through thousands of pages to find one line item on dioxins amongst highly atomic data and then calculates using nanograms per second to find the annual level of dioxins is less than honest. Such an organisational approach to public concerns is very consistent with the Big Lie methodology.


Does Ireland's Political EPA Protect The Public?
It's also unknown if the supplied numbers posing as "data" have been peer reviewed. Is the EIS "data" as inaccurate as the numbers supplied at the Bord Pleanala hearing? The spin is that the EPA or the glorious HSE will protect the public.

Ireland's EPA is politically compromised and can not be relied on to protect the public. Chromium-6 pollution in Cork harbour is a fine example where the EPA appear to have done nothing beyond issuing a piece of paper. One of the EPA's director's from that time is now employed by the waste-to-toxins industry to promote incineration in Ireland. The EPA and the industry claim there is no conflict of interest here - but perhaps they should read the confidential reports on Anglo-Irish Bank and the Dublin Developer's Autocracy (DDDA)


Gombeen Man Governance Damages Ireland
Anglo-Irish Bank has destroyed Ireland's global reputation for corporate governance by apparently & deliberately withholding pertinent and material information from investors. Recent Irish economic disasters have been caused by Ireland's culture of politically driven organisations run under the control of a small cohort of cross-contaminated, intelligent, managerally-inbred, selve-serving people who seem to specialise in compromised business ethics. They do nothing illegal of course and have developed their art far beyond brown envelopes.


Two Questions
The lack of an A4 summary of public information from a sophisticated organisation raises at least two questions. What are Covanta, Dong, RPS, the developer lead DCC, the politically directed EPA and the rest of the team trying to hide from the public? And why are they apparently following Tobacco Industry Best Practice?


Our Honest Experts Recommend Incinerators.




wastetoenergy, Waste-To-Toxins, The Big Lie, EPA, Covanta Violations Lawsuits Fines Threats, Anglo Irish Bank, Dublin Bay Incinerator, Poolbeg Incinerator, Deadly Particles (PM2.5),

January 15, 2009

Chart & Cancer Image Submitted to EPA-Ireland Oral Hearing, April 2008.

Chart Submitted to EPA-Ireland Oral Hearing, April 2008.
Air Pollution Particles Inside Cancer Cells in Human Liver.




Chart Submitted to EPA-Ireland Oral Hearing, April 2008.
EU Standards are Compromised.
EU Allows 25μg per cubic metre.
WHO Urges 10μg per cubic metre.


  • A reduction in the yearly average PM2.5 particulates to 15μg per cubic metre would result in life expectancy gains, at age 30, of between 1 month and 2 years.

The US National Ambient Air Quality Standard for PM 2.5 particulates was introduced into the USA in 1997 with a mean annual limit of 15μg per cubic metre. This had measurable health benefits.

California has a stricter limit of either
10μg or 12μg per cubic metre.

The latest EU standard for PM 2.5 particulates is 25μg per cubic metre.

An annual mean limit for PM 2.5 particulates is to be introduced into Scotland in 2010 and this will be 12μg per cubic metre. An annual mean target for PM 2.5 particulates is to be introduced into the UK in 2020 and this will be 25μg per cubic metre. Many will wonder why the difference is so vast when the science is the same.



Deaths, EPA, PM2.5, Deadly Particles (PM2.5), Waste-To-Toxins, wastetoenergy, Health,

European Respiratory Society: European Union policy could cost you 2 years of life.

European Union policy could cost you 2 years of life.

The European Respiratory Society has published its concern about the
mismatch between European Union policy and the best scientific evidence.

They state that a reduction in the yearly average PM2.5 particulates to 15μg per cubic metre
(c) would result in life expectancy gains, at age 30, of between 1 month and 2 years.

They point out that the benefits of implementing stringent air pollution legislation would outweigh the costs. These recommendations are sensible and based on sound science.

A programme of building incinerators would unfortunately achieve the opposite: they would increase particulate pollution, reduce life expectancy and would be at odds with the best science.

Statements by leading researchers include the following:
“the magnitude of the association between fine particles and mortality suggests that controlling fine particles would result in saving thousands of early deaths each year” (Schwartz)

and

“there is consistent evidence that fine particulates are associated with increased all cause, cardiac and respiratory mortality. These findings strengthen the case for controlling the levels of respiratory particulates in outdoor air”

__________

c) The US National Ambient Air Quality Standard for PM 2.5 particulates was introduced into the USA in 1997 with a mean annual limit of 15μg per cubic metre. This had measurable health benefits.

An annual mean limit for PM 2.5 particulates is to be introduced into Scotland in 2010 and this will be 12μg per cubic metre. An annual mean target for PM 2.5 particulates is to be introduced into the UK in 2020 and this will be 25μg per cubic metre. Many will wonder why the difference is so vast when the science is the same.

Deaths, EPA, PM2.5, Deadly Particles (PM2.5), Waste-To-Toxins, wastetoenergy, Health,

Incineration Health Effects Assessment by the WHO and Other Authorities

SCIENCE: Incineration Health Effects Assessment by the WHO and Other Authorities


Assessment by the WHO and Other Authorities


Based on World Health Organisation Air Quality Guidelines the British Society for Ecological Medicine has estimated that a 1μg per cubic metre increase in PM2.5 particulates(a) would lead to a reduced life expectancy of 40 days per person over 15 years(b).

Although this figure appears small they note that the public health implications are large and the effect on a typical population of 250,000 surrounding an incinerator would be a loss of 27,500 man-years of life over a 15 year time period.

This figure gives an indication of the likely loss of life from any major source of PM2.5 particulates. In addition, incinerators normally operate for much longer periods than the 15 years quoted here. Note that the estimated loss of life here is likely to be an underestimate as it is from particulates alone and not from other toxic substances.

_______________
a) A very conservative estimate of the level of increase that would be expected around large incinerators.

b) This equals a reduction of life expectancy of 1.1 years for each 10μg per cubic metre increase in PM2.5 particulates

The US National Ambient Air Quality Standard for PM 2.5 particulates was introduced into the USA in 1997 with a mean annual limit of 15μg per cubic metre. This had measurable health benefits.

An annual mean limit for PM 2.5 particulates is to be introduced into Scotland in 2010 and this will be 12μg per cubic metre. An annual mean target for PM 2.5 particulates is to be introduced into the UK in 2020 and this will be 25μg per cubic metre. Many will wonder why the difference is so vast when the science is the same.





Waste-To-Toxins, wastetoenergy, Deadly Particles (PM2.5), Poolbeg Incinerator, Dublin Bay Incinerator, Dublin City Council, EPA, Bord Pleanala, Health, Deaths, The Big Lie,

Poolbeg Incinerator Could Cost 100,000 man-years of life it its first 15 years


An Incinerator at Poolbeg could
reduce life expectancy by 100,000 man-years.
That's in its first 15 years (a).



An incinerator can be modeled as a deadly particles generator. A 70 page report from a credible medical society on the reduced life expectancy caused by incineration and deadly particles(b) is here so you make your own judgments.

Pollution in east Dublin already exceeds the compromised EU standards and is significantly above the more protective US air quality standards. The Bord Pleanala Inspector's report noted the compromised level of air pollution in Poolbeg is already at or above the EU norms but his actions will have been dictated by the politically appointed directors at Bord Pleanala.

The submission to the EPA Oral Hearing by a member of the St Patrick's rowing club in Ringsend illustrates concerns on cancer, ill health and premature deaths in a polluted environment. DCC refuses to run a Baseline Health Study for the area and cynically washes its hands by referring all such requests to the less than inspiring Health Service Executive (where nobody washes hands). The EPA Oral Hearing apparently accepted this Big Lie manouver.

The EPA's directors are political appointees of Fianna Fail - at the EPA it would appear the gamekeepers have turned into poachers, and vice versa. Is the
politically dominated EPA any more credible than the Developer's Anglo-Irish Bank, the Dublin Developer's Autocracy (DDDA) or the Developer's Irish Financial Regulator?

In addition to invisible microscopic particles an incinerator in Dublin Bay would pump hundreds of thousands of tonnes of pollution into the air over Dublin each year. The total volume of waste is actually increased by waste-to-toxins incineration and is not reduced as claimed by industry Big Lies. For example, in addition to toxic ash and hundreds of other compounds, each tonne of waste generates an additional tonne of CO2. This CO2 is pumped up the chimney where it circles the world.

Big Lie Caution: Dublin City Council has spent €19,000,000 to promote its cynical one-sided case for an Incinerator at Poolbeg. DCC has used multiple Big Lies, including the Big Lie of selective witholding of data, it seems. For instance, DCC has apparently not publicly costed nor quantified the serious health impacts in terms of compromised health and premature deaths - apart from spin such as 'you can not prove that'. This is the Tobacco Industry Big Lie in practice.

The Cork Harbour Alliance for a Safe Environment (CHASE) has other useful information.
The Green-Fianna-Fail government has penalised Corks' citizens by presenting CHASE with a legal bill of €50,000. Contrast this to the €19,000,000 of your money given to the public service patriots in developer-lead Dublin City Council. George Bush would say the DCC fokes are Fair & Balanced.

__________________________________________


a)
Basis: June 2008 Estimates by British Society for Ecological Medicine using World Health Organisation Air Quality Guidelines.
Based on a very conservative estimate of the level of increase that would be expected around large incinerators in a population of 250,000.


There is a reduction of life expectancy of 1.1 years for each 10μg per cubic metre increase in PM2.5 particulates

The US National Ambient Air Quality Standard for PM 2.5 particulates was introduced into the USA in 1997 with a mean annual limit of 15μg per cubic metre. This had measurable health benefits.

b) Deadly particles - see pages 15-16.


_____________________
Waste-To-Toxins, wastetoenergy, Deadly Particles (PM2.5), Poolbeg Incinerator, Dublin Bay Incinerator, Dublin City Council, EPA, Bord Pleanala, Health, Deaths, The Big Lie, 

First posted: January 15, 2009.