Two more reports highlight Poolbeg site risks of methane gas emissions

Two more reports highlighting the potential risks of methane gas emissions and industrial pollutants on lands meant for 3,000 homes in the Dublin Docklands area, raise more questions about the potential costs and speed of building a project aimed at addressing the housing crisis.

Dublin City Council last month said the authorisation by Simon Coveney, the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government, to designate the Poolbeg West lands a strategic development zone would fast-track the development of 3,000 homes across a large part of the Poolbeg Peninsula.

The Irish Examiner last week reported on a study by a senior inspector at the Environmental Protection Agency on the potential for methane emissions still existing on parts the 34-hectare strategic development zone.

This newspaper today highlights two more official reports that assessed the risks of major contamination on lands across the entire Poolbeg Peninsula that could have a bearing on costs of building in the area.

The first of the reports, called the ‘Poolbeg Peninsula Planning Scheme Geotechnical Report’, was commissioned by the former Dublin Docklands Development Authority — the DDDA.

Written in May 2008 by consultants Mott MacDonald Pettit, the report says dealing with soils in parts of the peninsula used for 30 years as a municipal dump is likely “to impose additional costs on developers”.

In the worst-case scenario, says the report, soils may need to be removed from the peninsula and exported for decontamination.

It says: “Landfill gasses are likely to be encountered at some sites with significant methane concentrations having been noted in previous studies.

“It is highly likely that significant building anywhere on the peninsula will require extensive piling. This is technically feasible but will impose costs on developers in the area. Some piling techniques involve the removal of material from deep underground. The use of these techniques may lead to an increased risk of encountering contaminated soil.”

During construction, “there is a possibility of poisonous, explosive or asphyxiating gasses filling trenches or other excavations”.

There is the potential presence of hydrocarbons; phenolic and cyanide compounds linked to town gas manufacturing; sulphates which may require sulphate-resisting cement; volatile organic compounds, including carcinogenic benzene; and toxic metals including arsenic, barium, chromium, mercury, nickel, lead and tin, says the report.

The second study, dated February 2009, said “landfill gas could still potentially be present”.

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