Bird flu: Castle burning rumour is quashed
FEARS that meat and bone meal from turkeys infected by bird flu could be burnt as fuel for cement making in Clitheroe have been quashed.
One of the fuels used by Castle Cement in its kilns at the Ribblesdale Works is meat and bone meal (MBM), an end product of rendering animal carcasses. It is supplied from John Pointon and Sons' rendering plant in Cheddleton, Staffordshire ? the same plant that has dealt with the 159,000 turkeys culled following the bird flu outbreak at a farm in Suffolk.
West Bradford farmer Mrs Mary Horner this week telephoned the Clitheroe Advertiser and Times concerned that MBM from the infected turkeys could be brought to Castle Cement. She feared the local bird population could be infected with the H5N1 bird flu virus through contaminated MBM being stored at the Ribblesdale Works, or from fumes if it was burnt in the cement kilns there.
Mrs Horner, who has campaigned for many years against Castle Cement, said it had been widely reported that the dead turkeys were being taken to Staffordshire to be "incinerated". Yet she pointed out that John Pointon and Sons is a rendering plant, not an incineration facility, and that an end product of rendering ? the MBM ? is routinely brought to Clitheroe.
However, a spokesman for John Pointon and Sons this week told the Clitheroe Advertiser and Times that "absolutely nothing" from the 159,000 turkey carcasses would leave its plant in any form of end product.
In a statement, jointly prepared with DEFRA, John Pointon and Sons said: "Rendering involves crushing and grinding of carcasses, followed by heat treatment in a sealed vessel to reduce the moisture content and to kill micro-organisms.
"Around 60% of the carcass weight is moisture and this is lost as steam. Steam and gaseous emissions are collected, condensed and the condensate is either bio-filtered or incinerated in the boiler. Residue from the condensate treatment is then incinerated so nothing is left.
"None of these birds are being used in any end product."
The company spokesman added that the whole process of culling the infected birds, transporting them to Staffordshire and disposing of the carcasses at the John Pointon and Sons plant had been strictly overseen at every stage by the State Veterinary Service.
* ALL bird gatherings, including shows, markets and fairs and pigeon races have been banned by Defra following the avian flu outbreak in Suffolk.
Clitheroe Auction Mart's weekly fur and feather sale has been hit, with the feather side being cancelled. Other sales will be taking place, but there will be no poultry or caged birds until further notice. Meanwhile, Ribble Valley poultry producers are keeping a close eye on the situation.
07 February 2007
FEARS that meat and bone meal from turkeys infected by bird flu could be burnt as fuel for cement making in Clitheroe have been quashed.
One of the fuels used by Castle Cement in its kilns at the Ribblesdale Works is meat and bone meal (MBM), an end product of rendering animal carcasses. It is supplied from John Pointon and Sons' rendering plant in Cheddleton, Staffordshire ? the same plant that has dealt with the 159,000 turkeys culled following the bird flu outbreak at a farm in Suffolk.
West Bradford farmer Mrs Mary Horner this week telephoned the Clitheroe Advertiser and Times concerned that MBM from the infected turkeys could be brought to Castle Cement. She feared the local bird population could be infected with the H5N1 bird flu virus through contaminated MBM being stored at the Ribblesdale Works, or from fumes if it was burnt in the cement kilns there.
Mrs Horner, who has campaigned for many years against Castle Cement, said it had been widely reported that the dead turkeys were being taken to Staffordshire to be "incinerated". Yet she pointed out that John Pointon and Sons is a rendering plant, not an incineration facility, and that an end product of rendering ? the MBM ? is routinely brought to Clitheroe.
However, a spokesman for John Pointon and Sons this week told the Clitheroe Advertiser and Times that "absolutely nothing" from the 159,000 turkey carcasses would leave its plant in any form of end product.
In a statement, jointly prepared with DEFRA, John Pointon and Sons said: "Rendering involves crushing and grinding of carcasses, followed by heat treatment in a sealed vessel to reduce the moisture content and to kill micro-organisms.
"Around 60% of the carcass weight is moisture and this is lost as steam. Steam and gaseous emissions are collected, condensed and the condensate is either bio-filtered or incinerated in the boiler. Residue from the condensate treatment is then incinerated so nothing is left.
"None of these birds are being used in any end product."
The company spokesman added that the whole process of culling the infected birds, transporting them to Staffordshire and disposing of the carcasses at the John Pointon and Sons plant had been strictly overseen at every stage by the State Veterinary Service.
* ALL bird gatherings, including shows, markets and fairs and pigeon races have been banned by Defra following the avian flu outbreak in Suffolk.
Clitheroe Auction Mart's weekly fur and feather sale has been hit, with the feather side being cancelled. Other sales will be taking place, but there will be no poultry or caged birds until further notice. Meanwhile, Ribble Valley poultry producers are keeping a close eye on the situation.
07 February 2007