Fired-up inner south residents have questioned the need to build a waste-to-power plant planned for Canberra's east, saying they feared for the health of their children and their community.
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More than 100 people attended an Inner South Canberra Community Council meeting about the proposed $200 million factory on Wednesday night.
Officials from Capital Recycling Solutions and ActewAGL - who have proposed the joint venture - defended the health and environmental impacts of the facility proposed for Fyshwick.
An emotional daycare worker said she feared for the 400 children at the five centres within two kilometres of the proposed plant.
"We have a child in care with one lung, they can't afford to breathe in shit," she said.
Another woman said she had seen children running off soccer fields with "burning eyes" caused by sulfur dioxide from thermochemical plants in Newcastle.
Adam Perry from Capital Recycling Solutions said the plant would not "belch out black smoke", and more than half the cost would go towards a state-of-the-art flue gas cleaning system, which would remove sulfur and acids and destroy pollutants like dioxins.
He added he would "happily" spend all day at the plant with his own children, and stressed the plant would be safe.
Former executive manager of the Australian Greenhouse Office Dr Diana Wright said the worst source of emissions was electricity generation through coal-fired plants.
She said treating waste in a controlled environment would make harmful substances inert, was more greenhouse gas friendly than landfill and could be a good energy solution.
However one resident said he did not give a "rat's arse" about how well the facility was built, he cared about where it was built.
"Why won't you build it at [NSW super dump] Woodlawn, where the waste will mostly be trucked from?" he said.
Mr Perry said the position of the rail line was integral to the project, as they could export recyclable material.
"Fyshwick is the industrial heartland Canberra, it's centrally located and we believe it's the ideal location for this project," Mr Perry said.
Steve Skourakis from ActewAGL said the proposed location was ideally located between the Eastlake and Fyshwick zone stations, which would reduce the costs of capital upgrades in the area and stop that cost being passed onto customers.
Griffith Narrabundah Community Council president Dr Leo Dobes said the community had been asked to support the proposal with scant information.
"Community involvement is just a facade," Dr Dobes said.
However Mr Perry said it was still early in the process.
"Once the draft EIS is released we'll have something to talk about with you," Mr Perry said.
