Incinerator plans enter new phase

PLANS for a controversial incinerator in Tipperary took a step further yesterday when the company involved applied for an Environmental Protection Agency licence.

National By-Products is planning to build an incinerator close to the village of Rosegreen which would burn the country’s meat and bone-meal waste.

The plan is being opposed by 70% of locals and has also threatened the removal to the US of the Coolemore/Ballydoyle racing empire, one of the leading racing and stud operations in the world.

The extensive licence application papers were submitted to the EPA yesterday morning. The proposed incinerator will have to be approved both by the EPA and Bord Pleanála before construction.

The application details the products that will be burned, the level of emissions, and the monitoring that will take place at the incinerator.

“The application shows that this is a very serious proposal, which will be safe and will not damage the environment,” a company spokesperson said.

It’s understood that the EPA will take months to reach a decision on the application. “The EPA will try to process this as quickly as possible, but all applications are different and it’s impossible to put a timescale on it,” a spokeswoman for the EPA said.

The South Tipperary Anti-incinerator Campaign (STAC) believes the incinerator will harm the environment and lead to respiratory problems among local people.

“We challenge the proprietors of National By-Products to confront the people whose livelihoods they are threatening,” STAC chairman Seamus Hayes said.

STAC is claiming that the environment in one of the key agriculture-producing areas in the country will be adversely affected.

The area around the Rosegreen site produces 3.5 million litres of milk annually.

But the company said the campaign against the incinerator was based on “scaremongering” and “misinformation”.

Moves to block the incinerator are being supported by leading horse trainer Aidan O’Brien.

Mr O’Brien has threatened to leave the country if the incinerator goes ahead. He believes it will put the health of his children in danger.

The world-famous Ballydoyle stables, where Mr O’Brien trains horses, is just a mile from Rosegreen.

John Magnier, the owner of the nearby Coolmore stud, also supports STAC.

A further effort to stop the incinerator begins next week when a judicial review, initiated by Mr O’Brien, gets under way.