Tipperary village waste processing firm refused new licence

Residents in a Tipperary village yesterday welcomed a decision by the Environmental Protection Agency to refuse an application…

Residents in a Tipperary village yesterday welcomed a decision by the Environmental Protection Agency to refuse an application by a vermicomposting company for a waste licence in the area.

Shannon Vermicomposting Ltd, based at Coolross, Rathcabbin, was seeking to expand its operations and applied for a waste licence to process a maximum of 20,000 tonnes of waste at their facility.

The EPA stated that the company failed to convince the agency that any of the persons employed by managing director Peter Ogg have the requisite technical knowledge to carry out the activity in accordance with any proposed licence.

The agency also pointed out that the level of non-compliance with the conditions of the current waste permit is such that there is a "real and likely danger" that similar non-compliance with a waste licence would cause significant environmental pollution.

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The news was welcomed by members of North Tipperary County Council, which had been forced to secure two High Court injunctions last month to prevent the company from continuing operations at the plant.

The company, which uses worms to process waste into compost, has been the subject of local hostility over the past year.

The company's operation causes a foul odour to emanate from the plant. Local residents organised protests and marched on the offices of North Tipperary County Council and the Mid-Western Health Board in a bid to highlight the situation.

The council was successfully granted an interlocutory injunctions against Shannon Vermicomposting and its director, Mr Ogg, under the Waste Management and Planning and Development Acts last month.

Residents committee member Willie Lambe said the whole village was "delighted" the company would not be allowed to expand their operations in Rathcabbin.

"The community is relieved and delighted that the EPA have seen fit to take the concerns of local residents into consideration in not allowing this company to expand. The council have also assisted the efforts of the community and are to be commended for securing the injunctions," Mr Lambe said.

Rathcabbin shop owner and publican Darina Kelly, the organiser of a number of protests, said foul smells were continually emanating from the site.

Villagers and people living in the surrounding areas were worried about possible risks to their health and of water pollution and were objecting to the traffic volumes entering and leaving the site.

"The smell in our area is absolutely awful. I can only describe it as being like rotting silage," said Ms Kelly.

Mr Ogg has already denied allegations regarding his company and has said any smells in the area were the result of farmers spreading slurry out of season.

No one from the company was available for comment yesterday.