Minister expected to intervene in Galway waste crisis

The Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey, is expected to intervene in the Galway waste crisis which will see hundreds of tonnes of commercial rubbish piling up in the city's streets from this morning.

His Department declined to comment on speculation yesterday that the cap on commercial waste from Galway city which was due to come into force today may be lifted by the Minister temporarily. Fianna Fail and Progressive Democrats councillors are also under pressure to vote next Monday in favour of the controversial Connacht waste-management plan which was rejected by both corporation and county council last year.

Galway for a Safe Environment (GSE), which campaigned against the plan on the incinerator issue last year, has accused the Minister of ignoring the will of the people in attempting to impose incinerators on local authorities.

Galway is the only area where sites for possible thermal treatment or incineration were identified during the debate on the waste-management plan for the Connacht counties.

The GSE is holding a protest rally in Galway next Saturday. Dr Conchur O Bradaigh of GSE said the Minister would have better served the people of Ireland if he had concentrated on the waste reduction and recycling elements of waste plans.

O Bradaigh pointed to petitions of over 22,000 signatures against incineration, collected in Galway, Louth and Meath, and predicted that Minister Dempsey's planned "imposition" of this technology would be a major issue in the next general election.

Meanwhile, businesses and restaurants in the city were bracing themselves for a rubbish problem from today, as Ballinasloe dump closes its gates.

The Environmental Protection Agency guidelines require that the total annual tonnage at Poolboy be reduced from 75,000 tonnes this year to 50,000 tonnes next year. This prompted Ballinasloe Urban District Council to impose a ban on commercial waste from Galway city from February 1st, and from Galway county (except the UDC area) from July 1st.

Mr Gene Browne, a leading waste contractor and director of Galway's City Bin Company, has criticised local councillors for failing to look seriously at alternatives to incineration as part of an overall waste strategy.

"There isn't sufficient infrastructure in place to meet recycling targets, and once an incinerator is built the pressure to recycle will fall," he said.

Mr Browne said his members did not want to stop collecting commercial refuse from today, but they had been unsuccessful in locating alternative landfills. Kildare had been examined as one destination, but it would only take inert or non-organic material, he said.

The Minister has been under pressure from business representatives and organisations in Galway in recent weeks to revisit the 1996 Waste Management Act, both on the short-term issue of commercial waste and the long-term issue of a plan.

He may empower the local authority executive to take a decision on a waste-management plan without the sanction of the elected representatives.

Alternatively, he may give the local authorities a deadline by which to have a plan in place.