§ Mr. PikeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects Her Majesty' inspectorate of pollution to make a decision with regard to the burning of orimulsion at Padiham power station.
§ Mr. MacleanNational Power has agreed to a request from HMIP for an extension of the determination period for this application to 30 September. Unless further extensions are required, the authorisation will be issued by this date.
§ Mr. RedmondTo ask the Secetary of State for the Environment if he will list the companies who have applied to use orimulsion fuel on a commercial basis; and if he will show in his answer those which have been(a) granted and (b) refused permission.
§ Mr. MacleanNational Power has applied under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to HMIP to burn 263W orimulsion in its power stations at Pembroke in Wales and Padiham in Lancashire. Both applications are currently being considered.
PowerGen has permission under previous legislation to burn limited amounts of orimulsion in its power stations at Ince in Cheshire and at Richborough in Kent. The company has applied to burn orimulsion in these stations under the 1990 Act. These applications are the subject of an appeal to my right hon. and learned Friend about commercial confidentiality. They cannot be determined until after the appeal decision, which will be made as soon as possible.