The company which wants to build a huge waste incinerator in Bedfordshire is looking up at lawsuits in the United States.
Covanta, whose plans for Rookery Pit at Stewartby are being disputed, is due for a court battle after being accused of emitting excessive levels of a possible carcinogen for the second time in the last three years at a plant in Wallingford, Connecticut.
The Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has filed a suit against Covanta Energy on behalf of the state’s Department of Environmental Protection.
It is the second time Covanta has been sued for allegedly exceeding emissions standards and a previous legal action was settled for $355,000 in 2009.
Covanta’s chief sustainability officer, Paul Gilman, has admitted that the emissions were ‘unacceptable to Covanta’. The findings led to the area’s incinerator being closed down.
Covanta, which processes five per cent of America’s waste, also has a number of other pollutions violations in New Jersey.
The scheme for Marston Vale came under fire at the Forest Centre yesterday as big protests against the Wembley Stadium-sized project continued.
Covanta’s application to the Infrastructure Planning Commission has been accepted and the firm say it would take 85,000 tonnes of waste a year.
However, there is huge opposition to the plan from people across Bedfordshire.
There was an “overwhelming” turnout at yesterday’s meeting, organised by Tory MP Nadine Dorries where opposition groups agreed to unite in a co-ordinated approach in an attempt to consign the project to the dustbin.
Experts in the audience questioned claims made by Covanta on the benefits of energy production and health and safety issues.
And a representative from Woburn Estates presented research data on the detrimental effect the scheme would have on tourism and house prices.
Ms Dorries said: “The Covanta proposal threatens to blight the quality of life for local people as well as impacting on tourism and property prices.
“This is a 41 day war and the fight against it starts here today.”
Rallying the large numbers to “do their bit” she also claimed the Covanta scheme would only provide 70 jobs while the planned Center Parcs project would solve the current employment deficit in the area.
