An artist's impression of the New Barnfield incinerator

A NEW study into the effect of incinerators on public health has been ordered – but the company applying to build a waste burner in Hatfield remains “confident” the facilities are harmless.

WHT InferNO! campaign

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) has announced it is reviewing its stance on incinerator emissions in light of “substantial” new research into the effects of waste burners.

The study will investigate potential links between incinerator emissions and low birth weight, still births and infant deaths.

Researchers will also examine possible links between emissions and babies born with congenital anomalies, such as cleft palate and spina bifida, from distances of up to 15 kilometres.

And that could spell trouble for Veolia Environmental Services, which has applied to build a 380,000-tonne incinerator at New Barnfield, off Travellers Lane.

The company has repeatedly relied on the HPA’s current stance – that adverse health effects from well-run incinerators are “small, if detectable” – as a defence against the fierce public opposition.

And fears over the safety of special needs students at Southfield School, located next to the proposed incinerator site, will once again undoubtedly come to the fore.

But the HPA’s current view is valid until the new study is published in 2014 – something Veolia has been quick to point out.

A spokeswoman said: “For the purposes of our application for a Recycling and Energy Recovery Facility at New Barnfield, it is important to note that the current position of the HPA remains valid and applicable.

“We remain confident in their position that there is not a significant risk to public health.”

However, campaigners in Hatfield believe the HPA’s announcement undermine’s Veolia’s claims.

Welwyn Hatfield MP Grant Shapps said: “I think it is very significant that the HPA has commissioned further work on the impact of incinerators on public health.

“This move casts yet more doubt onto Veolia’s decision to plough ahead with an incinerator at New Barnfield.

“A common sense approach would be to put the current plans on hold until this new study has been completed. “With all the other planning concerns and the enormous Private Finance Initiative costs associated with this scheme, new concerns over health risks should present a good reason to put the project on hold now.”