EPA review followed normal procedure
This company applied for a licence review in order to accommodate the construction of a combined heat and power plant at their facility and followed precisely the procedures laid down by statutory regulation.
Those procedures require the EPA to consider the application and any submissions and to issue a proposed determination indicating the intention to grant, grant with conditions or refuse a licence ora revised licence.
(In this case the EPA decided to grant a revised licence with conditions and issued its proposed decision to those that participated in the process). There follows a statutory period during which objections by the applicant or third parties may be lodged and the EPA must then consider all objections and any submissions received on the objections before issuing a final determination.
Aughinish Alumina objected to eight of the 150 (approx) conditions in the proposed determination and, on consideration of the points made, the EPA accepted a number of these objections and rejected others. The EPA is satisfied that he modifications made to the proposed decision do not compromise the protection of the environment in any way.
Such objections by licence applicants is quite common and is an integral part of the licensing process of the 775 licenses issued to date by the EPA some 437 objections have been received from applicants.
All objections and submissions received by the EPA, together with a written assessment of same by EPA personnel, are placed in the public file and are available for scrutiny at our headquarters in Wexford.
Hence the objections by Aughinish Alumina were entirely within the regulatory procedures and were in no way unusual.
Paddy Nolan,
Programme Manager, Licensing Unit,
Office of Licensing and Guidance,
EPA,
Johnstown Castle Estate,
Co Wexford.
