Foot and mouth disease may have slipped out of the media spotlight in recent weeks, but according to the National Farmers Union the outbreak is far from over. The Government's controversial slaughter policy, with so-called "contiguous culling" of apparently healthy animals, has no doubt led to a fall in the numbers of new cases each week, but from the outset the lack of communication between different government departments and organisations was at crisis level.

Stuart Spear looks at the Government's failure to properly manage the foot and mouth epidemic, and at the ensuing problems faced by local environmental health departments. He asks if the profession can learn any lessons from the crisis and assesses the legacy the disease is likely to leave environmental health officers. Following a "brain storming" session at North Devon DC, environmental health officers who have been working on the front line throughout the outbreak, put together an initial 18-point plan of "lessons to be learnt". The measures make interesting reading.

The Government has also come under heavy fire from some quarters over its plans to increase UK incinerator capacity over the next decade or so, to meet the requirements of the EC Landfill Directive. The NSCA has explored the issues surrounding the public acceptability of incineration, including independently commissioned research on the health issues. When the report was launched last month, environmental groups were in uproar over its seemingly "pro-incineration" stance. Tim Brown, the NSCA's deputy secretary, policy and development, outlines the "common sense" conclusions of the report, while EHJ looks at some of the main findings.

Elsewhere this month, Robert Halford and James Smith examine how environmental management systems can be integrated into local authority activities to deliver on the sustainability challenge and Nick Warburton examines the fringe issue of light pollution. It may not be a "big issue" for environmental health officers today, but complaints are on the increase.

Tracey Khanna, Editor