Jersey's southeast coast was once part of the island's prehistoric land-bridge to the Continent, submerged at the end of the last Ice Age. It now comprises some of the most ruggedly beautiful and ecologically important intertidal habitats in Europe. It is a marine wilderness often beyond the familiar sounds of dry land where a constellation of weather-worn reefs are submerged and exposed twice each day by one of the largest tidal ranges in the world. Now this wilderness is under threat of a new waste incinerator, to be built nearby.
The number of marine species found in the comparatively small area of Jersey's southeast coast is remarkable, well beyond Ramsar Convention criteria for wetlands. Commercial and leisure fishing, fish farming and other activities within the site are recognised as of great cultural, social and traditional importance to the community.
The area to the south and east of La Collette, St. Helier, Jersey Channel Isles have been designated as a Ramsar Wetland area. Moreover, the States of Jersey have designated the area that entirely surrounds Jersey as a Marine Protection Zone.
Threat: new ‘Energy From Waste’ Incinerator.
In July 2008, the States of Jersey approved the building of a large Babtie Fichtner incinerator on the eastern fringe of the Ramsar site (see map). At a cost of £106 million for the plant alone, the siting of the incinerator is just meters from the Ramsar site and its probable pollution - both airborne and waterborne - gives great concern to many environmentalists and other organisations not just locally but internationally.
A waste incinerator combusts waste at high temperatures. Incinerators that generate electricity produce more greenhouse gases than gas fired power stations. Moreover, recycling saves far more energy than is generated by burning waste.
Airborne Pollution
The incinerator stands on the extreme south eastern corner of the reclamation area. The prevailing winds can blow the nano-particles from the stack across the area marked in red on the map. It has been estimated that this could affect up to 55,000 people as well as the wetlands population of flora and fauna and the fish farming industry.
To which extent is yet uncertain, because there is no Independent Environmental Impact Assessment data available. Nevertheless, 33,000 European Union doctors (ISDE International Society of Doctors for the Environment) on 11th June, 2008 signed an appeal to the plenary of the European Parliament to condemn this type of plant, which has been outlawed in other jurisdictions.
Outlawed
This type of incinerator has been outlawed in Japan and California amongst other places. Although it complies with EU regulations, it remains doubtful that such mass burn processes are in harmony with the Island's commitment to the Ramsar Wise Use Principle, i.e. "the maintenance of their [wetlands] ecological character, achieved through the implementation of ecosystem approaches, within the context of sustainable development" (The Ramsar concept of “wise use”)