THE outcome of an oral hearing this week between the Department of the Environment and a concerned citizens group in Ballaghadereen, taken against a decision by the IDA and Roscommon County Council to locate a waste depot in the town's industrial estate, is eagerly awaited by residents.
The hearing, which took place last Tuesday and lasted just under eight hours, heard submissions from five members of the concerned citizens group, including former Fianna Fail Minister of State, Mr Terry Leyden.
The group highlighted the fact that Ballaghadereen felt it was being used as a guinea pig by the, IDA, which, instead of job creation is being accused of waste creation.
"The site where the proposed waste plant is, is just 550 metres from Ballaghadereen town and is the only IDA site being sold in Ireland for the purpose of waste disposal, and we feel we are being used as guinea pigs," said Mr John Kelly, of the citizens group.
"The private developer involved in this project will be bringing in skips of waste and dumping and segregating the material on site before transferring the non recycleable matter to the local tiphead. In 10 years time, this man might decide to recycle anything," he said.
Ballaghadereen, which saw its only hotel close last year, along with several other businesses leaving the market, has been lobbying the IDA for years to secure investment for the industrial estate, which is located just 200 metres away from the nearest residents.
The site is deemed suitable to accommodate at least 300 workers, but the waste depot project is expected to produce only a handful of jobs.
In granting planning permission for the plant, Roscommon County Council contends it has insisted that 20 conditions must be met by the developer, Mr Sean Bergin.
The site is not considered suitable as a waste transfer station by the council and "non reusable waste" must not exceed a maximum of 25 per cent of the throughput of the plant, according to the council.
However, the citizens group says even the council has admitted it would be unable to enforce at least 14 of the conditions.
The greatest fear is that once the plant is set up within its closed structure, anything can happen behind closed doors, and the nature of the plant will discourage any other businesses from in vesting in the town.
"Our concerns range from disease, rodents, odour and environmental pollution to fish kills. In the past two years, our major river has already suffered two very serious fish kills as a result of industrial waste," Mr Kelly said.
While the developer has assured the council that he intends to use the plant largely to recycle paper and cardboard a survey of Ballaghadereen residents has shown that 98 per cent are opposed to the plant. The market for recycled paper has also suffered a collapse in Ireland recently.
The outcome of the hearing is expected in five weeks. In the meantime, Ballaghadereen enjoyed a boost last week when it was announced that it is to become the administrative headquarters of the new Western Development Commission, which will oversee the investment of millions of pounds in the west in future years.