Drax Power Station, near Selby, is one of the filthiest factories in Britain, pumping out thousands of tonnes of industrial pollution, it was claimed today.

In a damning list published by environment group Friends of the Earth, and based on 1998 figures released by the Environment Agency just three weeks ago, the nation's biggest polluters are named and shamed.

Friends of the Earth says the factories and plants named release large amounts of cancer-causing agents, toxic waste, acid rain gases or dioxins.

Drax Power Station topped the list for plants which discharged the most acid-rain gases into the air in 1998, emitting 187,136 tonnes of sulphur dioxide.

Drax spent £600 million in 1996 fitting flue-gas desulphurisation (FGD) equipment which filters out up to 90 per cent of sulphur dioxide - but because it is Europe's largest coal-fired station, it still pumps out massive amounts.

The station's sulphur dioxide emissions limit has been reduced from 340,000 tonnes to 100,000 tonnes a year, but it exceeded its limit last year after its FGD system broke down.

Nearby Eggborough Power Station was fourth on the UK's acid-rain top polluters list, pumping out over 103,000 tonnes of sulphur dioxide last year. And just a few miles away, Ferrybridge station was in fifth place with over 97,000 tonnes.

All three stations were also named by Friends of the Earth as being in the top 25 for dioxin releases to the air in 1998.

National Power says it has reduced emissions of sulphur dioxide by 82 per cent since 1991, and is the UK's cleanest generator.

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