Deeside industrial estate chosen for £800m waste plant
The site for an incinerator which will burn non-recyclable waste from across north Wales has been chosen as the Deeside Industrial Park in Flintshire.
The £800m energy-from-waste project is due to be operational from 2017 and will see five councils take their waste to the one site.
The proposals have already led to some local opposition.
Flintshire council leader Aaron Shotton said he remained concerned about the plans but could do nothing about it.
"My commitment to the public remains unchanged," he said. "At present I remain unconvinced over the possibility of incineration and potential health impacts via emissions.
"We will need full assurances over the technology, its track record, and how emissions into the air will be contained.
"We will require higher than industry standards on emission control with absolute assurances over any impacts on local air quality."
He added that the council expects as much waste as possible to be transported off-road and by rail, and it would campaign for a "significant community benefit".
Mr Shotton said inquiries had been made about reversing decisions made by previous councils but they were not possible.
"The procurement of such a facility from 2017 was at a stage of no turning back when we came into power," he said.
"We have been advised that to reverse the decisions made by the previous councils pre-election, could effectively bankrupt the council, but it is critical that the potential health impact is assessed before any further agreements are made."
The project has been drawn up by a consortium of five councils and the proposed location is close to Shotton Paper mill.
But there is already widespread opposition to the plans from communities in Connah's Quay, Shotton, and areas as well as communities across the Dee estuary in Wirral.
The 25-year contract to build and operate the incinerator is worth an estimated £650m, with the Welsh government providing a further £142m towards the scheme.