Cattle Cull (Hansard, 15 January 1998)

§ Mr. Dawson
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on his Department's preferred option for the disposal of animals culled under the over-30–months scheme. [23167]

§ Mr. Rooker
The Intervention Board Executive Agency (IBEA) has responsibility for the day to day running of the over-thirty-months scheme. After careful consideration, it has concluded that none of the bids received for incineration under its 1997 tender exercise are capable of meeting its requirements of energy recovery, proven technology, early deliverability, high volumes and reasonable costs. IBEA has therefore terminated the restricted stage of the tender so far as the incineration only element is concerned and is actively investigating other options which may be able to meet its requirements. The Government will announce their decision when these investigations are complete.

§ Mr. Dawson
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the risks to nearby communities from the incineration of(a) meat and bone meal and (b) carcasses from animals culled under the over-30-months scheme. [23170]
291W

§ Mr. Rooker
In June 1997, the Environment Agency published a number of studies on the risks from BSE to human health via different environmental pathways. In relation to incineration of BSE suspects, the risk calculation showed that the likelihood of the most exposed individual ingesting in one year sufficient material to cause infection to be less than one in 1,000 million. The Agency pointed out that, in reality, the real risk to the general public is way below that of the most exposed individual. The risks of incinerating over-thirty-months Scheme cattle carcases will be lower still. Incinerators burning carcases and meat and bone meal (MBM) will require consents under the Environment Protection Act 1990.
The risk assessments gave similar results for burning meat and bone meal derived from OTMS carcases in coal fired power stations. All of the risk assessments carried out showed the risks to be very low and negligible compared to other risks in daily life.