EPA grants licence for €250m incinerator

THE PROPOSED €250 million Poolbeg incinerator has been granted an operating licence by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The plant, which is set to be one of the largest municipal waste incinerators in Europe, has been granted a licence to burn 600,000 tonnes of waste annually by Dublin City Council. This includes up to 80,000 tonnes of sewage sludge not sanctioned for processing at the plant by An Bord Pleanála.

The licence also frees the council from having to pre-sort the waste using mechanical biological treatment (MBT), a waste management process favoured by Minister for the Environment John Gormley.

The council stopped short of welcoming the EPA decision yesterday, which is subject to more than 216 conditions relating to the environmental management, operation, control and monitoring of the facility. But it is understood that, despite the list of conditions - a number of which are likely to result in considerable extra cost - the council will be able to go ahead with the plant and expects construction to begin in the second half of 2009.

The council was granted planning permission by An Bord Pleanála in November last year. It was at the time one of the most controversial proposals to come before the board, attracting more than 2,500 objections.

Within days the EPA announced its intention to grant a licence to the council to operate the facility. Following objections the agency held a public hearing on its decision last April.

While the EPA has now confirmed its decision to grant a licence, it said yesterday that it had "strengthened" the approval with additional conditions which it said "take account of the concerns expressed at the oral hearing".

The majority of these conditions relate to monitoring and testing of the environmental impact of the plant, rather than specific restrictions on the plant's activities. The EPA has put particular emphasis on the testing of the undiluted final effluent of the plant to ensure it is not harmful to fish.

One condition, which may have significant financial implications for the council, relates to the facility manager of the plant. The council had requested that this individual be a person with 10 years' experience in running power stations, but the agency has directed that the facility manager must have 10 years' experience in incinerator operation, leaving a smaller pool of experts from which to draw.

The council has also been directed to assess the feasibility of transporting the bottom ash - residue left over after incineration - from the facility to Dublin Port for export using an enclosed continuous conveyor-belt system, rather than trucks. A report on this must be submitted to the EPA before the plant begins operating.

In what will be a particular blow to locals opposed to the plant, permission has been granted to burn sludge from the adjacent municipal sewage treatment plant. This has initially been set at a limit of 10,000 tonnes annually but may be increased to 80,000 on application to the EPA.

The absence of MBT, which had been a condition in the draft licence, has been dropped from the final licence. This form of treatment was seen by objectors to the plant as a method of reducing waste, making a 600,000 tonne facility redundant.

Most of the conditions relate to EU requirements and the agency's strengthening of the licence requirement will not be enough to satisfy objectors, who say they will continue to oppose the facility in the Irish and European courts.

Combined Residents Against Incineration will have its High Court case against the original An Bord Pleanála decision heard next February following the failure of the planning board to stop the case from going ahead.

Timeline

1997: Dublin Regional Waste Management Plan identifies the need for a municipal waste incinerator for the greater Dublin area.

1998: Dublin Regional Waste Management Plan sets out a target of 59 per cent recycling, 25 per cent thermal treatment and 16 per cent landfill.

1999: Feasibility and siting studies begin.

2000: The Poolbeg peninsula is identified as the best location for the incinerator.

2002: Expressions of interest are sought to design, build and operate the incinerator.

2003: Bids are submitted from a shortlist of five companies.

2005: The contract is awarded to the Danish waste management company Elsam.

2006: Elsam is taken over by Danish Oil and Natural Gas (Dong).

2007: In February Dong and its American partner Coventa seek changes to the contract with Dublin City Council which almost causes the agreement to collapse.

The difficulties are later resolved and a new contract is signed in September. In November An Bord Pleanála grants planning permission.

2008: In December Environmental Protection Agency grants a waste licence,

2009: Work scheduled to begin in late autumn,

2012: Incinerator scheduled for completion.