The Environmental Protection Agency yesterday opened the way for the development of a €56 million superdump by granting Cork County Council a waste disposal licence for the facility.
The decision by the EPA comes four months after An Bord Pleanála granted planning permission for the facility which Cork County Council plans to use for 20 years. It will be designed to receive separated waste from all over Cork city and county after it's been sorted at a materials recovery facility.
Campaigners expressed disappointment against the decision for the dump which is designed to cater for over five million tonnes of waste. Bottlehill Environmental Alliance has been campaigning for the past five years against Cork County Council's proposed landfill on a 250-acre site at Bottlehill between Burnfort and Carriganavar some 15 miles north of Cork city.
Bottlehill Environmental Alliance spokesman, Mr John O'Riordan expressed disappointment with the EPA decision. "It wasn't entirely unexpected but at the same time it's very disappointing - we're going to have to study the terms of the licence in detail before making any decision but at this stage, we're keeping all our options open - including possibly legal action," he said.
The EPA has included a number of what it described as "additional stringent restrictions" on the licence, including allowing only baled waste to be accepted at the facility which "will reduce the overall environmental impact significantly and will reduce the volume of traffic associated with the landfill".
The EPA will also require all waste to be pre-treated prior to acceptance. On-site leachate treatment will minimize the risk of spillage to local rivers, and it is intended to extend ground-water monitoring to private wells in the area.The installation of a second wheel cleaning device for delivery lorries will minimise the impact on local roads.
But Mr O'Riordan said that there was "nothing very new or exciting from our point of view" in these restrictions.
Local Cork East Labour TD, Joe Sherlock also expressed disappointment at the EPA decision, saying it failed to address the very real concerns about the proximity of some houses to the site as well as concerns about pollution to the large number of springs feeding into local water supplies. He said there was also the inability of local roads to support the high volume of traffic.
Local farmer Mr John Cahill, whose land borders the proposed dump site, said: "It's the end of our livelihood. We have to bring our cows along over half a mile of the road that leads to the dump four times a day for milking. We're bitterly disappointed with the EPA's decision," he said.
But Cork County Council manager, Mr Maurice Moloney warmly welcomed the EPA's ruling and said that the proposed landfill is expected to be now completed in about 18 months.
He added that the Council would make contact with the local community in the coming weeks to progress the establishment of an environmental monitoring programme.
