A £60 million thermal treatment plant, to cater for the waste needs of Connacht, is expected to be located on the eastern fringes of Galway city.
The proposed location of the plant, capable of accommodating up to 200,000 tonnes of waste a year, is not due to be announced until July. It is not due to start operating until about 2005.
But already local communities in Oranmore, about five miles from the city, have expressed concern that it may be located in their areas.
This week a senior Galway County Council official revealed that the incinerator would be on the eastern side of the city, ruling out the possibility that it might be located west of the Corrib.
"The plant must provide for an energy recovery facility," said the assistant county manager, Mr Declan Nelson. "It will have to be sited close to the national electricity grid, a large centre of population, or a major industrial complex.
"Secondly, the plant will have to be located as close as possible to the largest single urban area to minimise on transportation costs. Thirdly, the plant will have to be located close to the national road network to avoid incurring major expenditure on the upgrading of roads." Fears have grown in Oranmore that the incinerator may be located in the area, following a recent planning application for a waste transfer and recycling facility near the train line at Glennascaul.
Mr Tim Rabbitte, a candidate in the local elections, said the people of the area had understandable fears that the incinerator would be located near the village. He said Oranmore would become the "waste crossroads of the west" if the plan was allowed to go ahead.
"This area is totally unsuitable for waste disposal," he said. "It is a high residential area with a large growing population living within a few hundred yards of the proposed waste transfer station."