SMOKEY & Public Inquiry

I just went through one of the most interesting and challenging days in Cambridge. We had a gruelling 2.5-day mock Public Inquiry(PI)on the Marchwood Incinerator Plant in Hampshire, Southampton. I was nominated as the group leader for SMOKEY, an anti-incinerator NGO expert. As our "mission statement" puts it...

"SMOKEY is a UK-based non-profit organisation that supports a toxic-free world without incineration. We advocate the creation of a closed-loop, materials-efficient economy where all products are reused or recycled back into the marketplace or nature."

I created the logo to better position ourselves. What do you think about it? We are the NGOs and we have a statement to make!

The PI was an intense and rigorous inquiry process. The independent inspector was solicited from a reputable consulting firm for this case study. It was more like a court proceeding to me.

One of the typical scenes for group discussions in class

Getting all prepared for the PI. Firming up on a few more points for SMOKEY before the excitement kicks in.

The 6-member group in SMOKEY

Inspector in chair

The PI was an important learning point for us as it would prepare us in future as engineers to be able to stand as witnesses or professionals in delicate cases. The different roles played by different people gave everyone an opportunity to dwell into the characters of the stakeholders, the advantage and disadvantages of certain positions and the challenging roles of stakeholders in defending their mission and interests at stake. Like in the case of SMOKEY, we wanted the incinerator to be shut down, but we are not anti-development. We advocate the creation of a closed-loop, materials-efficient economy where all products are reused or recycled back into the marketplace or nature. We are talking about waste reduction, increase in recyling, reuse and reduce, alternative waste management methods like anaerobic and biochemical digestion. So, we are a bunch of techy, non-fantasist anti-incinerator group who thinks that there are better ways of managing waste.

After a tedious 2.5-day run up to the consensus building process, we chilled at the bar with others.

....and mend the rifts that may have occurred during the intense mock inquiry.