Every tonne of cement produced releases at least another tonne of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, adding to the greenhouse gas emissions blamed by scientists for causing climate change. This, however, is not an issue which An Bord Pleanala can consider in deciding whether to approve a new cement plant.
At the oral hearing which opens in Castlebar today on plans by Frank Harrington Ltd to build a £30 million cement factory between Kilkelly and Ballyhaunis, the board's planning inspector will only be hearing evidence on "relevant planning matters" such as visual amenity, traffic and socio-economic impacts.
In the twin-track approach which applies to major industrial projects, all issues relating to environmental pollution - air, water, soil and noise - fall within the ambit of the Environmental Protection Agency, under its integrated pollution control licensing regime. A decision on whether to license the Mayo plant is due shortly.
Frank Harrington Ltd, which already operates a successful quarrying, aggregates, asphalt and readymix concrete business from Kilkelly, sought planning permission from Mayo County Council in February, 1997, for the proposed cement manufacturing plant. It was eventually granted last December, subject to 17 conditions.
The decision was appealed by the locally based Tooreen Action Group and two individuals. According to the action group, some 700 written objections were made to the county council, including one submission from all five doctors in Ballyhaunis, who said they were opposed to the cement plant on public health grounds.
The plant would occupy an area of 49 acres at Aghamore, three miles south-east of Kilkelly, off the main Galway-Sligo road, where the developers currently operate an unauthorised quarry and dust shed, for which they are seeking retention. They also acted as main contractors for Knock airport some years ago.
The cement factory would be the largest single industrial installation in Connacht, larger even than the controversial Masonite timber-processing plant on the banks of the Shannon, near Drumsna, Co Leitrim. It would have a road frontage of more than 1,200 feet and its main stack would rise to 280 feet.
An environmental impact statement on the proposed development says large reserves of lime stone and shale are available locally, though gypsum - the other main ingredient for cement manufacture - would have to be brought in from Co Cavan, which is the only source of this material in the Republic.
According to the EIS, which was compiled by consulting engineers P.D. Lane, of Greystones, Co Wicklow, the plant would produce between 350,000 and 500,000 tonnes of cement a year, using a coal-fired kiln. It would operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in compliance with the emission guidelines issued by the EPA.
Under the heading "Air and Climate", the EIS says emissions from the plant "will not have a significant adverse impact on the ambient air quality with predicted levels of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and partriculates well below National air quality standards or European guide values." Dust would also be controlled.
The non-technical summary of the EIS makes no reference to carbon dioxide emissions, although these would be substantial. For every tonne of cement produced, up to 1.35 tonnes of CO2 is emitted by liberating carbon from limestone. The fact that the plant would be burning 240 tonnes of coal a day would add to these emissions.
A spokesman for the EPA confirmed yesterday that no national or EU limits apply to CO2 emissions because they do not constitute a health hazard. "They are only of significance in relation to the climate", he said. According to the local action group, the Aghamore cement plant could add 2 per cent to Ireland's CO2 emissions.
Mr Peter Cassidy, the group's chairman, said this was a national issue, as CO 2 "is not going to kill anyone around here", but with Ireland committed to containing its greenhouse gas emissions at 13 per cent above their 1990 levels by 2010, he believed the plant could only go ahead at the expense of other sectors.
"One of our main objections is that the controls on cement industry in this country seem particularly weak because only three pollutants - dust, nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide - are monitored. We are also concerned that the plant could be used to burn toxic waste, which is what happens with other cement plants abroad."
Mr Cassidy said An Taisce, the Heritage Council and the North Western Fisheries Board had all made submissions to the appeals board. The fisheries board's concern is that the cement plant could cause severe siltation of the Trimogue, one of the most important tributaries of the Moy, leading to its "complete destruction".
However, Dr Brian Meehan, planning consultant for the developers, said the fact that the plant would be located on the site of most of its raw material would save 50,000 truck movements a year. "This is a site-specific, indigenous resource-based industry with the capacity to serve the west and cut down on cement imports."
He said the Mayo plant would also be competing with Irish Cement, which has a virtual monopoly of the market of about 2.2 mil
lion tonnes with much larger plants at Platin, near Drogheda, and Mungret, near Limerick, each of which produces about 1 million tonnes of cement a year. The rest, some 10 per cent, is imported.