Concerns are being raised about the effects of the country's first ever liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal on the environment of the Shannon estuary and its dolphin population in particular.
Earlier this year, An Bord Pleanála deemed the €400 million proposal by Shannon LNG (a subsidiary of US company Hess LNG) for the terminal near Tarbert a "strategic infrastructure" under the terms of the new Planning and Development (Strategic Infrastructure) Act 2006.
This meant the planning process was fast-tracked directly to An Bord Pleanála.
Closing date for submissions is today, although Kerry County Council has additional time and is to meet to draw up submission.
The plans for the deepwater site and adjacent landbank of 257 acres owned by Shannon Development between the villages of Ballylongford and Tarbert have been generally welcomed. The landbank has remained idle for up to 30 years and several plans have failed to materialise.
However, disquiet has been gathering among some residents nearest the facility, and among environmentalists locally.
According to a spokesman for Listowel-based group Safety Before LNG, safety as well as environmental concerns have not been given a proper airing, partly because the project has gone directly to the appeals board.
A three-mile exclusion zone will have to be maintained as it will be unsafe to live any closer than this to the terminal, spokesman John McElligott said.
"The most serious environmental concern is that up to 100 million gallons of chlorinated seawater will be pumped into the estuary daily," he said.