FARMERS have joined the growing ranks of local residents who have expressed outrage over plans to build huge waste-burning incinerators near Middlewich.

American company Covanta is one of several corporations planning to build incinerators in the area, along with chemical manufacturer Brunner Mond.

Some farmers are getting increasingly worried about the effects the incinerators, which will burn up to 370,000 tonnes of waste a year, will have on their livelihoods.

Brian Lowe, of Lowes Farm, Byley, said: “We have been growing vegetables here for 50 years, how will the pollution affect the crops and animals?”

Mr Phillip Smallwood, of Greenhayes farm, Stanthorne, added: “We’ve spent forty years clearing up pollutants and now it looks like the bad old days will be here again.”

Mr Lowe said: “Building huge incinerators so near to established farm land is madness, especially with so many question marks regarding the effects of the fallout.”

Covanta has rebuffed these claims, insisting the incinerators will not produce large amounts of pollution or affect livestock.

Malcolm Chiltern, Managing Director of Covanta Energy said: “No credible evidence exists that modern energy from waste plants are harmful. Cheshire East Council’s Environmental Health Department has no objections to the specific application proposals, nor do the Primary Care Trust and the Heath Protection Agency on health grounds including the possible effects on the food chain.

"Additionally, any potential impact on locally produced foods, including livestock and crops is also considered when the Environment Agency, an independent government body, whose job it is to protect the environment, decides whether to issue a permit for an energy from waste plant.

The Environment Agency will only issue a permit if they are satisfied that their stringent criteria are met.”

But the farmers are still not satisfied.

Mr Lowe said: “What about the damage to our businesses when customers realise that Cheshire produce is being grown in the shadow of waste-burning incinerators?”

He added, “Even if they don’t pollute or contaminate crops and grass, how are we going to persuade customers that what we grow is entirely safe?”

The farmers also want to highlight the absurdity of building the incinerators, while at the same time trying to decrease the amount of carbon dioxide produced in the area.

Mr Smallwood said: “We’ve been trying to reduce the carbon footprint of our produce for the last few years and this will go against all that hard work.”

The farmers are determined to prevent Middlewich becoming a ‘dumping ground’ for waste, a view that is shared by thousands of angry residents across the area.

But Mr Chiltern said: “Providing energy from waste is extremely safe.

As well as diverting waste from landfill, a disposal method which produces methane, a gas which is at least 20 times more harmful to the environment than carbon dioxide, Covanta’s energy from waste facility will reduce the need for fossil fuels and lower CO2 emissions.

All these measures will reduce the amount of Greenhouse gases that are produced.”