Controversial waste plant gets go-ahead

A licence for a waste incinerator at Poolbeg has been granted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today.

The agency gave permission to Dublin City Council for the non-hazardous waste plant in Dublin Bay.

Under the licence, the incinerator is to burn the waste and to recover energy in the form of steam and electricity for export to the national grid, and for the transfer of heat to a municipal district-heating scheme, once this has been set up.

The incinerator will be the first of its kind in Dublin and one of the biggest such facilities in Europe, burning up to 600,000 tonnes of waste every year.

More than 216 conditions are included in the terms of the licence, relating to the environmental management, operation, control and monitoring of the proposed facility.

“The EPA is satisfied that operation of the facility, in accordance with the conditions of the licence, will not endanger human health or harm the environment in the vicinity of the facility or over a wider area,” said an EPA spokesman.

The agency said the licence had been strengthened to take account of concerns expressed at an oral hearing held in Dublin last April. It added the licence conditions meet the highest standards set by the EU Incineration of Waste Directive.

Dublin City Council will be responsible for managing the facility, while the EPA’s Office of Environmental Enforcement will monitor the licence through environmental audits, unannounced site visits and checks on emissions.

A two-month period during which a judicial review can be sought has now begun.

Yesterday, An Bord Pleanála lost its High Court bid to prevent local resident groups opposed to the proposed Poolbeg waste incinerator in Dublin pursuing court claims.

The groups claim they are entitled to an independent review of how An Bord Pleanála addressed issues relating to an environmental impact statement for the development.

The EPA received the licence application on July 10th, 2006, and 14 valid objections were submitted. A 10-day oral hearing in April heard 45 presentations from all parties.