What health studies have ben carried out since Beddington Lane incinerator?
Dear Sutton Borough Council,
I should be grateful if you’d disclose full details of all health studies carried out since the Beddington Lane incinerator stated operating, including data from other London Boroughs.
The location of the incinerator within your area, together with the height of the chimney stack, means that other London Boroughs will also have been exposed to emissions.
Yours faithfully,
Michael Ryan
Dear Michael Ryan
ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION REGULATIONS 2004 – INFORMATION REQUEST - REF NO
- FOIS3084 (please quote in correspondence)
I acknowledge your request for information under the Environmental
Information Regulations 2004 dated 08/03/2023.
Your request is being considered and if this information is held you will
receive the information requested within the statutory timescale of 20
working days as defined by the EIR 2004, subject to the information not
being exempt or containing a reference to a third party.
Information may be provided in paper copy, normal font size (12 pt) or
verbally if you prefer, subject to any exemptions being applied. If you
have not specified how you wish to receive the information, we will choose
the most appropriate format. For your information, the Regulation defines
a number of exemptions which may prevent release of the information you
have requested. There will be an assessment and if any of the exemption
categories apply then the information will not be released. You will be
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If the information you request contains reference to a third party then
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you will be informed if a fee is payable. In this event the fee must be
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Please be advised that in line with London Borough of Sutton’s commitment
to transparency, in due course an anonymous copy of your request and our
response may be published on our website.
Yours sincerely
FOI Team
London Borough of Sutton
[1]www.sutton.gov.uk
The information contained in this message is confidential. It is intended
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Dear Michael Ryan,
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 - ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION REGULATIONS
2004 - INFORMATION REQUEST - REF NO - FOIS3084
I write with regard to your freedom of information request.
For the purpose of this FOI request, we have looked into whether any
health studies have been undertaken since the Beddington Energy Recovery
Facility (ERF) became fully operational in 2019.
I am responding to the Freedom of Information request you have submitted
concerning the health studies carried out since the ERF became
operational.
The London Borough of Sutton commissioned both an Air Quality Study and a
Rapid Health Impact study regarding the proposed increase in tonnage that
Viridor have applied to the Environment Agency. We are currently in the
process of reviewing these reports and they will then be made publically
available on our website.
Given the Council’s intention to publish this information, Section 22,
(Information intended for future publication) of the Freedom Of
Information Act is engaged. We have considered the Public Interest Test
when applying this exemption. In doing so, it is our view that it would
not be in the public interest to release information that is not yet
finalised, nor would it be appropriate to do so prior to sharing the
reports with Members. We consider that our publication timetable is
reasonable. We have therefore concluded that the public interest in
withholding this information outweighs the public interest in releasing
it.
In accordance with the provisions of the Act, this letter constitutes a
Refusal Notice.
The ERF must operate within strict emissions limits stated within its
Environmental Permit. These limits are set by the Environment Agency (EA)
to ensure the environment and human health are protected. As part of
Viridor’s compliance with its permit, regular emissions reporting is
undertaken and is available [1]here. It is the EA who monitors and
regulates the environmental performance of the facility. The EA can be
contacted via their [2]website.
As part of a recent application to the EA undertaken by Viridor to vary
their permit, allowing an increase in tonnages to be processed at the
site, a series of studies were required by the EA. These are available to
view [3]here. The London Borough of Sutton has not been involved in these
studies and they have been solely undertaken by Viridor.
We do not hold data for other London boroughs.
Yours sincerely
Rebecca Byford
Contract and Performance Officer
Climate Action and Sustainability
Environment Housing and Neighbourhoods
London Borough of Sutton
Civic Offices, St Nicholas Way, Sutton, SM1 1EA
T: 020 8770 5000
[4]www.sutton.gov.uk
Follow us on [5]LinkedIn | [6]Twitter | [7]Facebook
Disclaimers apply, for full details see :
(https://www.sutton.gov.uk/info/200436/cu...)
References
Visible links
1. https://www.beddingtonerf.info/emissions...
2. https://www.gov.uk/government/publicatio...
3. https://consult.environment-agency.gov.u...
4. http://www.sutton.gov.uk/
5. https://www.linkedin.com/company/london-...
6. https://twitter.com/SuttonCouncil?ref_sr...
7. https://facebook.com/SuttonCouncil
Dear Sutton Borough Council,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Sutton Borough Council's handling of my FOI request 'What health studies have ben carried out since Beddington Lane incinerator?'.
Thank you for your response, which implies that no health impact assessment was carried out to consider what effect emissions from the Beddington Lane incinerator might have on residents within the fallout zone of emissions.
I should be grateful if you’d confirm whether or not the above is correct.
The Rapid Health Impact study you mention seems to only look at the effects of increased tonnage and yet that report must be flawed if a detailed report hadn’t already been prepared for the possible health impact due to emissions from the original tonnage.
If the above is correct, then there’s been an appalling lack of due diligence by your Borough, which your officers and Councillors should wish to remedy.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/w...
Yours faithfully,
Michael Ryan
Dear Michael Ryan
I acknowledge your request for a review into the handling of your request
for information under our ref FOIS3084.
The Information Governance team will arrange for a review of our handling
of your original request. We aim to complete this review within 20 working
days from the date of your email below. This is in accordance with the
council's FOI procedure, and in line with ICO guidance. If you remain
unhappy following the outcome of the appeal you may then refer to the
Information Commissioner's Office.
If you have any queries or concerns then please contact the Customer Care,
London Borough of Sutton, Civic Offices, St Nicholas Way, Sutton SM1 1EA
or email [1][email address]
Further information is also available from the Information Commissioner
at:
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House, Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 0303 123 1113
[2]www.ico.org.uk
Yours Sincerely
FOI Team
London Borough of Sutton
Civic Offices
St. Nicholas Way, Sutton SM1 1EA
[3]www.sutton.gov.uk
Follow us on [4]LinkedIn | [5]Twitter | [6]Facebook
Dear Michael Ryan,
Please find attached the completed FOI Internal Review of FOIS3084, our
ref.
Kind regards,
Information Governance Team
serving Kingston and Sutton Councils
Disclaimers apply, for full details see :
(https://www.sutton.gov.uk/info/200436/cu...)
Dear Data Protection Officer,
In December 2012, ONS released the infant mortality rates for all London Boroughs from 1970 to 2010.
Having already seen clustering of high infant death rates in electoral wards around existing incinerators, I wasn’t surprised to see a sudden rise in the rates of infant deaths in the Boroughs of Lewisham, Newham, and Tower Hamlets after the SELCHP incinerator started in 1993.
Prior to SELCHP, the infant death rates in the above three Boroughs and also Wandsworth were similar and falling at the same rate, but after SELCHP started operating, only the rate in Wandsworth, which is rarely exposed to emissions from SELCHP, continued to fall.
The pattern of sudden post-incinerator rises in rates of infant deaths in Councils exposed to emissions is consistent and should have been noticed and acted upon in the 1970s when infant death rates suddenly rose in Councils exposed to emissions from incinerators at Edmonton, Nottingham, Coventry, Byker, Sheffield, Kirklees, Dudley, Wolverhampton etc.
The above trends, which show beyond reasonable doubt that it’s wrong to blame infant mortality on deprivation, ethnicity and low socioeconomic status.
Lewisham is downwind of the Beddington Lane incinerator and the infant mortality rate in that Borough suddenly rose after the incinerator started operating.
Yours sincerely,
Michael Ryan
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