Group ‘vindicated’ after planning for hazardous waste treatment overturned
The board overturned a Cork County Council decision to approve planning for the treatment of hazardous waste at an existing treatment plant operated by Eras Eco in Youghal.
The appeal was launched by Youghal Chamber of Tourism and Commerce following the local authority’s decision in 2011 to allow the plant to upgrade its facilities to accept toxic waste, using a new super critical water oxidation process in a €10m project.
The plan had caused consternation particularly amongst tourism interests, as the prospect of up to 30,000 tonnes of toxic waste being transported onto the three-and-a-half acre site close to the River Blackwater.
The plant employs six full-time and four part-time staff. The company had claimed an expanded operation would have created 10 more jobs along with 20 in the construction process.
A protest group, known as the Blackwater Estuary Action Group, had vigorously fought against the proposal, engaging legal, scientific and environmental expertise.
The group compiled a comprehensive dossier on the proposal, which was accepted by the appeals board as a late submission through the offices of several state agencies, including Fáilte Ireland, An Taisce and the Department of Fisheries.
An Bord Pleanála said it was “not satisfied that the introduction of hazardous waste treatment, in addition to the other treatments existing and proposed on the site would not exceed the carrying capacity of the site and would not pose a risk of environmental pollution”.
It ruled no waste materials classified as hazardous should be treated at the proposed facility.
Action group spokeswoman Karen Gollogley yesterday said the group had yet to analyse the report but “the feeling is one of great relief that, after a long battle, our concerns have been accepted and vindicated.”
Youghal’s mayor Michelle Hennessy welcomed the decision and paid tribute to Youghal Chamber and the action group.
Cork county mayor Barbara Murray, also a town councillor in Youghal, said “it would have been another nail in the coffin of Youghal had the plant gone ahead.”
However, Eras Eco general manager Paul Wilson said he was “very disappointed”. He declined to comment further pending consultation with the plant’s ‘higher management’.
