Incinerators hazard for families, says father

A BELGIAN father whose first wife had two mysterious miscarriages and whose second wife gave birth to a dwarf claimed Irish parents would face similar problems if large incinerators were built here.

After several years of campaigning, Fred De Baere, who lives in Flanders, managed to have a local waste incinerator closed by the courts.

Mr De Baere's own research and that of university doctors showed genetic defects and cancer rates were five times the national average within a 3km radius of the incinerator at Saint Nicklaas, a town in Flanders with a population of 55,000.