PDforra lodges objection to plans for Cork Harbour incinerator

An association representing 800 naval service personnel has lodged a formal objection to plans by Indaver for a major incinerator in Cork Harbour.

PDforra said it is extremely concerned about plans by the company to build the incinerator close to the Haulbowline naval base.

PDforra president Mark Keane, who works on the base, said members of the navy had put up with toxic residue from the former Irish Steel/Ispat plant for years and were very concerned about possible health implications, especially since an explosion rocked an Indaver waste treatment plant in Belgium last Friday.

“As an association we have made a formal objection to Bord Pleanála on a number of grounds because we have a duty to protect our men and women from any possible health implications,” Mr Keane said.

He made his comments ahead of a demonstration today by 350 students of the National Maritime College of Ireland in Ringaskiddy.

The college is just 20m from the site which Indaver wants to use to burn 240,000 tonnes of household and industrial waste annually.

Senior lecturer Jody Power, an energy engineer specialising in marine systems, said: “If it is built and we have an explosion people will have to run towards the fire to escape as there is only one road out. The alternative would be to get into the four lifeboats we have in the college. They would only accommodate 80 people. The rest would have to wait for a helicopter.”

The deadline for objections is March 9. CHASE, the group leading the campaign against Indaver’s plans, will hold a public meeting at 8pm on Monday in Carrigaline Community Complex .