Pollution from a planned new £1.2 billion incinerator in Edmonton will bring dangerous microparticulate pollution to Haringey, a local Lib Dem councillor has warned an inquiry.

Extinction Rebellion has warned that whilst incinerator filters appear to be relatively effective at removing larger particulates of pollution from their emissions, they are largely ineffective with smaller particulates. These are known as ultra-fine particulates and have the greatest health impacts because they are small enough to pass directly from the lungs into the blood stream and are transported further through the air. They are associated with increased mortality from lung cancer and cardiopulmonary disease. Children are especially vulnerable to harm from these particulates.

Yesterday Cllr Tammy Palmer (LD – Crouch End) gave a deputation to the North London Waste Authority asking for plans for the incinerator to be paused. She told the committee that the project worried her personally:

“Last year my son took part in an air pollution study for King’s College London and Channel 4 as part of a Dispatches documentary…. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen images of children’s lungs when they have inhaled microparticulate matter…well I have seen images of my son’s lungs and I live just over the border from Edmonton in Tottenham.”

She further warned the committee that people in Tottenham had not been made aware of the impending threat:

“Residents have not been consulted on this in half a decade and even then the plans have changed to now include the burning of waste from outside north London.”

Cllr Palmer and other deputees critical of plans were met with a dismissive response from cllr Clyde Loakes (Lab – Leytonstone), the Deputy Leader of Waltham Forest Council. He used his position as chair of the meeting to berate those expressing concerns.

Cllr Scott Emery (LD – Muswell Hill), Haringey Lib Dem spokesperson on the Environment, comments that:

“Cllr Palmer gave a fantastic speech with abundant passion and facts. Only to be met with a defensive and confrontational response from a Labour politician from Waltham Forest. Yet the silence from Haringey Labour politicians sends the same dismissive message even more loudly – they are not listening to residents worried about these dangerous microparticulates being spread across North London.”