Gormley warns Dublin council over incinerator

Environment Minister John Gormley today warned Dublin City Council against forging ahead with a controversial waste incinerator after it was granted a licence.

The Green Party leader claimed he was powerless to halt the waste-to-energy plant at Poolbeg in Dublin Bay, which will be one of the biggest of its kind in Europe.

But he insisted two investigations that he has ordered might block councils from sending rubbish to incinerators.

“In light of all of those issues I think it would be unwise of any local authority to proceed with a major waste infrastructural project until those studies have been completed,” he said.

Mr Gormley also attacked council chiefs, claiming locals had no confidence in them as the area had been plagued for years by a stench from a sewage plant.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) gave the contentious incinerator the go-ahead after a lengthy review, including 10 days of hearings last April. More than 216 conditions are included in the terms of the licence, relating to the plant’s environmental management, operation, control and monitoring.

The incinerator will be the first of its kind in Dublin and is expected to be one of the largest in Europe, burning up to 600,000 tonnes of waste every year.

Dublin City Council (DCC) said it is examining the conditions of the licence laid down by the EPA and it would be some time before construction of the plant begins.

“Work on the project will not start for some time,” said a DCC spokesman.

Mr Gormley said he has told the council an international review and a separate strategic environmental assessment are ongoing at his department into waste policy in Ireland.

These would ensure a shift away from burning rubbish and could include measures to ban waste that can be recycled or pre-treated going to incinerators or landfill, he said.

The Environment Minister also launched an attack on council chiefs, claiming residents had no confidence in them after a multi-million euro sewage treatment plant was opened in the same area.

A highly critical report last month found the designers of the Ringsend works severely underestimated the amount of human waste being pumped in every day.

The facility sparked protests over the stench it created since it opened five years ago.

“There is a problem in relation to confidence and people do not, unfortunately, have the confidence in Dublin City Council and that’s a major issue which needs to be addressed,” claimed Mr Gormley, who lives in the area.

The proposed incinerator, which already has planning permission, will use energy from the waste to make electricity for the national grid and heat for nearby home-heating schemes.

Opponents have two months to seek a judicial review of the EPA licence, while earlier this week An Bord Pleanála lost a High Court bid to prevent protestors taking legal action over its decisions on the plant.