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Wind parks and the environment

Sandbanks and longshore drift

Letters to the Editor. Illustration: Paul Scott
The Irish Times - Letters to the Editor.
Mon Sept 16 2024 - 00:06

Sir,– I agree with both contributors in their letters of September 9th when they state that the environment must be safeguarded during the planning process for the construction of wind parks. The majority of wind parks planned for the Irish Sea are to be constructed on the nearshore sandbanks of which there are 15 in total. These sandbanks are important for the protection of their parallel coastline as they contribute to longshore drift, ie the distribution of sand/silt that is carried in currents along the east coast and then deposited on the beaches. To disrupt this process will have devastating consequences for the protection of the coastline.

The Arklow Bank (which is destined to have 56 turbines built on or around it), for example, is a headland associated sandbank, and is more important because, if its elevation is interfered with, it will result in abnormal longshore drift. Increasing its height will cause onshore sands to be removed and not replenished. The Arklow Bank Phase 1 is the only Irish offshore wind park with seven turbines built in 2004 and they are scheduled to be decommissioned soon. In 2017, Arklow Energy Ltd, which operates these turbines, was granted a dumping at sea consent (S007-01) to dispose of 99,999 tons of sand that had accumulated at the base of the turbines, but this disposal has not happened, as confirmed recently by the Environmental Protection Agency. This means that the Arklow Bank has been elevated by this accumulation of sand and has been contributing to major shoreline erosion for the past 20 years, evident from the substantial coastal erosion between Brittas Bay beach south and Kilmichael point in Wexford.

This surely suggests that environmental impact assessments should be conducted independently and not just by the developers alone, and where better to begin this process than on the impact that the Arklow Bank Phase 1 has had on the immediate environment both on and off shore. – Yours, etc,

MAURICE MARTIN,

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Brittas Bay,

Co Wicklow.