As Plymouth City Council in England announced their decision to dump their rubbish in a disused quarry in Cornwall this week, protesters from Wales took their campaign to Brussels in an attempt to stop Liverpool City Council in England from dumping their rubbish in a disused quarry in Wales.

Both cases have many similarities in terms of environmental and health issues and both involve domestic waste from two big city urban areas (Liverpool and Plymouth) being dumped in quarries set in rural locations.

In the case of Wales, the Hafod quarry near Wecsam/Wrexham was granted planning permission for the dumping of rubbish in 1995, but it was not until 2006 that Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority & Mersey Waste Holdings Ltd decided to use the site to dump rubbish from five Merseyside councils.

Protests were arranged at Hafod quarry, because of fears that the dump would cause lasting damage to conservation in the area and effect local residents. A petition to the European Parliament's petition Committee was set up and Plaid Cymru Member of the European Parliament(MEP), Jill Evans presented the petition yesterday in Brussels. Ms Evans was accompanied by residents opposed to the Hafod landfill site and evidence was presented to the Committee regarding possible breaches of EU law and the effect on health and quality of life in the area.

In Cornwall, domestic waste from Plymouth will be trucked more than 20 miles to Liskeard's Lean Quarry, where Viridor Waste Management has a £30million contract to deal with the rubbish over a period of at least seven years. It has been estimated that about 24 trucks a day will carry 100 000 tonnes of waste annually between Plymouth and Liskeard

Regarding Hafod Ms Evans MEP said:

"I was pleased to bring so many constituents directly affected by the problems to Brussels to give first hand evidence to MEP's."

"…the protesters have been failed by the authorities. Developments are not and cannot be allowed which are against European laws in place to protect our health and our environment."

There is little doubt that Cornwall needs its own nationalist MEP who is able and willing to raise environmental and safety issues at an European level.

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J B Moffatt Director of Information Celtic League

03/04/08

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