Residents object to power station plans

The group of protesters, including an Ineos employee, have also written to Halton councillors and MPs with their concerns over plans for the Combined Heat and Power (CHP) facility.

An Ineos employee, who does not wish to be named, has studies plans which seem to reveal that a potential 370,000 tonnes of waste will be produced by the power station each year.

He said: "A potential 155,000 tonnes a year of hazardous waste (containing heavy metals and dioxins) produced by this power station will be buried in a landfill in Halton after being transported on Halton roads."

Ineos has warned that the facility is necessary if it is to continue at current production levels.

The plant will use the latest "energy from waste" technology to burn fuel derived from domestic refuse to generate heat and power for its Runcorn operation.

It is expected that up to a fifth of the site's energy needs could be provided by the CHP facility, which could be up and running by 2011.

Nearby residents are concerned that the power plant will cause house prices in the area to plummet due to the 'terrible visual impact' of the six cooling towers and main boiler house.

In their objection to the plans a protester wrote: "The volume of hazardous waste produced (up to 155,000 tonnes/year containing dioxins/ heavy metals) is totally unacceptable as it's transportation through and disposal of in Halton.

"As an employee in the local chemical complex I am aware that a certain number of both controlled and un-controlled releases are inevitable with steam generating plant and therefore the location is totally unacceptable due to the proximity to residential areas."

A spokesman for Ineos said: "As with any industrial process, waste products will be produced by the proposed CHP plant.

"The important point to make is that any waste products will be managed and disposed of, as they are now, in accordance with stringent regulations, such as the Waste Incineration Directive, and will not pose any hazard to health or the environment.

"The plant will be designed to be very efficient, and to maximise the use of the fuel to create energy.

"The majority of the waste products produced by the plant are non-hazardous and therefore can be recycled, for example to make road aggregates, which means that we expect less than 10% of the fuel used would be sent to landfill as waste.

"We welcome the opportunity to speak individually with any local resident who has concerns over our application."