A challenge to the decision to grant a licence to a pharmaceutical company permitting it to incinerate hazardous waste at its plant in Co Clare has opened in the High Court. Ms Orla Ni Eili of Harmony Row, Ennis, Co Clare, a member of the Clare Action Against Incineration group, has begun judicial review proceedings before Mr Justice Lavan challenging the decision of the Environmental Protection Agency to grant an incineration licence to Roche Ireland Ltd in relation to its premises at Clarehill, Clarecastle, near Ennis. Yesterday Mr Diarmaid Mc Guinness SC, with Mr Paul Callan SC and Mr Colm Mac Eochaidh for Ms Ni Eili, said his client was seeking an order quashing the decision of the EPA, made on or about December 17th, 1996, to grant a licence to Roche Ireland Ltd to authorise two activities - the manufacture of pharmaceuticals and their intermediates and the incineration of the hazardous waste of such production.
Roche Ireland Ltd was a subsidiary of a multinational pharmaceutical group, F. Hoffman La Roche of Basel, Switzerland. It had purchased Syntex Ireland Ltd which, since 1975, had been manufacturing pharmaceutical products at a factory outside Clare castle. The products related to the treatment of arthritis, blood pressure, ulcers and other conditions.
As a result of legislation, Syntex had moved to secure a pollution control licence and its first such licence was granted in 1995, subject to conditions. While operating under licence, the company sought a new method of dealing with its toxic and hazardous waste, Mr McGuinness said. It had been transporting waste for incineration outside Ireland.
The company applied to the EPA for a licence to incinerate waste on its premises at Clarecastle and for a review of its existing license about October 31st, 1995. Objections to the application were made by several groups and the EPA convened an oral hearing which lasted four days in September 1996.
On December 17th, 1996, the EPA granted the company a revised licence and his client was challenging that decision, Mr Mc Guinness said. He submitted that at the time, there was no definite design for the proposed incinerator and, in those circumstances, no licence should have been granted.
He said the EPA did not have due regard to its obligations to ensure that emissions from the incinerator would not cause significant environmental pollution. Mr McGuinness said it was proposed that the incinerator would deal with the vapours and fumes derived from the manufacturing process and also with liquid waste.
His client claimed the incineration gave rise to three particular types of emissions - flyash (ash deriving from the incinerator), scrubber effluent from the cleansing of fumes before emission, and the fumes, smoke and vapours from the chimney stack.
Ms Ni Eili and a large number of others were concerned that it was well recognised that combustion of these types of waste emission gives rise to a large number of dioxins. Mr McGuinness said the toxicity of those dioxins gave rise to concerns about the prospect of the incineration of hazardous waste at the Clarecastle plant.
He was seeking declarations from the court regarding the EPA's granting of the licence to Roche Ireland Ltd. He asked the court to declare the decision of the EPA was unreasonable and in excess of the powers of the EPA.
He also submitted that the EPA had failed to give reasons for its decision to grant the licence and that failure was in breach of the agency's duties under the Environmental Protection Act and constituted a breach of natural justice and constitutional fair procedures. He said the EPA would submit it had given reasons.