Clare County Council yesterday formally applied to the Environment Protection Agency for a Waste Licence for its contentious plan to locate Co Clare's central landfill site 2 km from the village of Inagh.
The application is for a licence for the development of a landfill, a recycling centre; a chemical storage shed and a composting area on a forested 160-acre site at Ballyduff Beg, Inagh.
The application is to be accompanied by an Environmental Impact Statement drawn up by consultants who state that the proposed waste management facility will have a low impact on landscape character and no impact on surrounding land use.
Opponents to the project - including the Inagh Anti-Landfill Group - can make a written submission to the EPA within one month of the complete application documentation being placed on public display by the EPA.
If the EPA does decide to grant a draft licence, objectors can lodge their objection within 28 days of the notification of the proposed decision.
According to a spokeswoman for the EPA, the process is expected to take nine to 12 months. Currently, the EPA is adjudicating on 69 licence applications for existing and proposed landfills throughout the State. To date, seven licences have been granted and none refused.
A spokeswoman for the Inagh Anti-Landfill Group said yesterday it will continue to oppose the council's plan every step of the way and will be making a submission to the EPA.
She claims the community is extremely angry that the local authority has completely disregarded the wishes of the local community.
She said the group had retained the services of a number of environmental experts and did not rule out the threat of legal action to prevent the landfill from being located near Inagh.
One of the experts includes an environmental consultant, Mr Jack O'Sullivan, who has been instrumental in helping community groups having a number of landfills closed down through High Court orders.
Clare county manager, Mr Willie Moloney, has already informed councillors there was great urgency in developing the central landfill due to a High Court order ruling that the county's existing central landfill site at Doora near Ennis must stop operating by the end of June 2001.
