Residents will oppose waste facility

RESIDENTS opposed to a waste treatment plant proposed for the edge of Waterford city say they will continue their campaign if a new partner is found to develop the facility.

Waterford Port Authority had planned to enter into a new partnership with German-based waste treatment company Herhof Environmental. But the deal collapsed when Herhof went into administration.

Port chairman Ben Gavin said there have been approaches from other interested parties and the authority is hopeful that the site will still be developed. Whether a waste facility is developed remains to be seen, he said.

Opponents to waste development at the site say claims that the public has nothing to fear from any development at the site are an insult. Larry McArthy, chairman of the Safer Urban Rural Environment (SURE) group, said they have done their research and believe people have grounds to be afraid.

“The by-product of what was proposed at Belview is Stabilat. And we have found that Stabilat or RDF is unsustainable, it is uneconomical, it must be incinerated and it leaves a residue of toxic ash,” he said.

It has been claimed that the site in Belview is the optimum designated site in the South East Waste Management Plan and that it is the policy of the Port of Waterford to find a partner to build such a development in Belview.

“I challenged anyone to indicate where it states that the site in Belview is the optimum designated site, and if it is the policy of the Port of Waterford, when was this policy adopted? Once stabilat is incinerated, toxic emissions are released into the atmosphere. Toxic emissions by definition are poisonous, and those generated by waste are known to cause cancer,” he added.