The Injunction application opened today (17 Sept) at the High Court in Cardiff to a vigorous demonstration.
The judge adjourned for 7 days as NNB GenCo's (EdF) lawyer changed their defence to claim the EIA for the new Hinkley Point Nuclear Power station covers dumping in Welsh waters. The judge gave them 7 days to show that from the 2000-page EIA on the development in England.
Protesters are optimistic that the company is on a loser. The Hinkley Point EIA did not cover dumping in the Welsh part of the Severn Estuary, whose Special Area of Conservation makes EIA obligatory. Moreover, an EIA for a project in Wales has to be advertised in Wales and subject to consultation by the Welsh public, which the nuclear station's EIA was not.
As the claimant couldn’t put up a bond for costs for if his application for an interim injunction failed (pending full hearing of the case). So the injunction could not be granted immediately. https://barryvalefriendsoftheearth.blogspot.com/
To: Carwyn Jones AM, first minister of Wales and Government
Halt the Dumping of Hinkley Mud in the Severn Estuary
We call on you to suspend the license to dump mud and clays from Hinkley Point in the Severn Estuary.
Why is this important?
Your ministers have failed to meet your duties on safeguarding our marine environment (UK Marine Act) and to comply with the international agreements (OSPAR, London anti-dumping Convention) on assessment of effects upon human health and marine flora and fauna. The mud was insufficiently tested at depth, with only 5 compared with the minimum 7 under OSPAR for the 300 000 tonnes. The Senedd Petitions Committee was right to ask for further testing and NRW wrong to refuse it, as the few deeper samples show up to 3 times more uranium and radium. The data are reproduced at
https://barryvalefriendsoftheearth.blogspot.com/2018/04/hinkley-radioactive-mud-brief-to-senedd.html
There was no testing for radioactively "hot" microparticles, as found near other nuclear reactor sites, which would be serious if inhaled or ingested. The testing for toxic heavy metals found abundances above "Action Level 1". Especially as the dumping ground is in the Severn Estuary SAC (Special Area of Conservation), it was essential for the harm to wildlife to be assessed and mitigated or avoided.
This mud will deposit on mud-flats in the Estuary and up its tidal rivers, blow ashore as dust when drying out, or blow ashore from micro-spray generated by white-water bubbles, so contaminating food-growing sites and gardens. No-one knows how much of a problem this could be - a precautionary approach must be taken while it is studied.
