Waste bunkers less than one metre above sea level unlikely to withstand another flood deluge

IN her letter headlined ‘Incinerator firm’s plan to combat site flooding’ (December 5), Jane Hennessy of Indaver was quick to defend the resilience of the company’s site at Ringaskiddy against the devastation wreaked by the November floods in Cork, described as a one-in-800 year event.

Unfortunately, her letter did not mention that for the worst case scenario assessed in the planning application, ie, a mere one-in-200 year flood event, Indaver’s own consultants predicted flooding of both the adjacent public road and part of the internal facility access roads. Nor did Ms Hennessy’s letter describe how, despite this predicted flooding for events far less consequential than those experienced recently, the bunkers in which both hazardous and non-hazardous waste is proposed to be stored are designed to be five metres lower than the rest of the site, ie, less than one metre above sea level.

I remain unassured.