Waste crisis looms for Clare

Clare householders and the county council may face a waste crisis next July when the county's central landfill site at Doora closes. The council is looking at the possibility of "farming out" the county's waste to other local authorities.

The Doora dump is to close following a successful High Court action by residents over the facility's mismanagement. Now the council is facing a battle on two fronts as it seeks to open a new landfill site near Inagh village.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is to decide soon on the council's application for a waste management licence for the new dump, while a public inquiry is to be held into the council's compulsory purchase order (CPO) for 150 acres of land at the proposed site.

Both the licence application and the CPO are being opposed by the Inagh Anti-Landfill Group and the Irish Forestry Unit Trust (IFUT), which own most of the land at the site.

Conscious that it may be months before the Minister for the Environment makes an order regarding the CPO and before the EPA reaches its final decision following a likely appeal, the council chairman, Mr Sean Hillery, has conceded that the new dump would not be ready by next July. He said: "Being realistic, if given the go-ahead, it is now unlikely that the landfill will be operational by then." Mr Hillery said it could take 15 months to prepare the new dump.

Asked at the council's September meeting if there was any contingency plan, Mr Hillery said the council's corporate policy group was considering the option of "farming out" the waste for a temporary period to adjoining local authorities. Yesterday he said: "It is the only alternative."

However, the Galway, Limerick and Tipperary North Riding councils have expressed strong reservations about this proposal.

Both Galway and Limerick county councils are already disposing waste generated within Galway and Limerick corporation areas.

Limerick council chairman Mr Kevin Sheehan said he would not be in favour of the move mooted by Clare council, while Galway council chairwoman Ms Connie Ni Fhatharta said that as a result of a High Court order, Galway's dump at Ballinasloe is to close by 2004 or before then if it exceeds a specified tonnage of waste. She said that a lot of members would have misgivings about Clare's proposal, while the North Tipperary council chairman, Mr Tony McKenna, said he would be opposed to the plan, saying his council did not have the space.

Responding, Mr Hillery said he was disappointed with what he called the "very, very small attitude" shown by his counterparts.

"We would hope for a little more understanding in what could be a crisis situation. We are not talking of farming out our waste ad infinitum, but for a temporary period. If our neighbours are not willing, we will have to go farther afield, he said."

The council's dilemma has received little sympathy from the Inagh Anti-Landfill Action Group. A spokeswoman said yesterday: "They are the authors of their own downfall through the years of mismanagement of Doora.

"The blame for Clare not having any landfill next summer lies squarely at the door of the council and it is the county's householders that will suffer."