Flemish, Walloon and Dutch organisations are challenging Bee Green Wallonia’s permit for an incineration plant for contaminated waste wood before the Council of State. The plant is intended to supply energy to the CBR cement factory in Lixhe (Visé).
They have formed a consortium and fear that emissions of nitrogen oxides and particulate matter – combined with the existing pollution from the cement factory – will pose health risks to people in the Meuse Valley. They also highlight the cross-border nitrogen emissions affecting nature reserves, which are already under pressure. Should the ruling be favourable, Wallonia – following the Netherlands and Flanders – will also receive its nitrogen ruling.
Second proceedings before the Council of State
In January 2022, the town of Visé granted Bee Green Wallonia a planning permission to build a biomass power station on the CBR site. This permission was revoked by the Walloon Government in July 2022. Bee Green Wallonia appealed against this decision to the Council of State and won the case in early 2023. The Walloon government subsequently tacitly approved the permit in July.
A cross-border consortium has lodged an appeal with the Council of State
“It is not only Walloon citizens who will be breathing in the polluted air; the site is, in fact, just a stone’s throw from the Netherlands and Flanders,” says Jan Vandegoor of the Limburg Environmental Federation. That is why a consortium of 10 organisations from the three regions is once again appealing to the Council of State to have the permit revoked: Limburgse Milieukoepel VZW (BE), Dryade VZW (BE), Bien vivre en Vallée du Geer ASBL (BE), Défendons nos villages (BE), Visons demain (BE), Stichting Milieu front Eijsden (NL), Milieudefensie Maastricht (NL), Natuur en Milieufederatie Limburg (NL), Vereniging Natuurmonumenten (NL) and 55 concerned professors from Maastricht University (NL).
A Walloon ruling on nitrogen emissions in the pipeline
The consortium cites nitrogen as its main argument. “The Walloon, Flemish and Dutch nature reserves surrounding the Bee Green Wallonia site are in poor condition due to excessive nitrogen levels. The biomass power station will cause additional nitrogen emissions. The environmental impact assessment did not adequately assess the impact of these additional emissions on the surrounding nature reserves,” explains Dries Verhaeghe of Dryade.
The Netherlands and Flanders have had nitrogen rulings in place since 2019 and 2021 respectively. The consequences for agriculture and industry are causing political tensions in both regions. In Wallonia, the issue is not yet high on the agenda. Should the permit be revoked, this will change.
Pending a ruling by the Belgian Council of State, the associations are considering possible further action to protect nature and public health in this border region.