An Bord Pleanála has come under pressure from Donegal County Council to support a new application for a controversial landfill development close to Glenveagh National Park.
Although the appeals board refused planning permission for the landfill at Meenaboll a year ago, it has been asked by the local authority to specify necessary requirements for an environmental impact statement (EIS) for such a project.
The scoping document, which the appeals board has just published, lays emphasis on the need for alternative site locations in any application, "taking into account the effect on the environment".
It names particular species of bird and animal which must be considered - including the golden eagle, which has been re-introduced by the State into the north Donegal area
The document's publication has prompted opponents of the landfill to call on Donegal County Council to "come clean" on the issue and to "stop trying to bully An Bord Pleanála".
The county council identified the proposed regional landfill on a 14.5 hectare site at Meenaboll, west of Letterkenny, over four years ago.
Under its regional waste management plan, the new site would take 24,000 tonnes of municipal waste over 20 years.
The site is an upland area bordering on a special area of conservation, and within sight of Errigal mountain and Glenveagh.
Objectors, including An Taisce and the Meenaboll Environmental Protection Group, said the leachate from the landfill could pollute Gartan Lake near Church Hill, which provides the public water supply to Letterkenny.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) granted the project a waste management licence but An Bord Pleanála turned down the planning application in January 2006.
The appeals board took the location's proximity to Glenveagh into account in its ruling, and noted that its upland location would pose a risk of landslides and consequent water pollution.
It said it would "constitute an unwarranted intrusion into the landscape and would potentially have significant adverse effects on protected and endangered species".
Gerry Mulgrew, of the Meenaboll Environmental Protection Group, said that he was confident that elected members of Donegal County Council did not support this project, whereas officials seemed to be determined to push it through.
Donegal County Council was unavailable for comment yesterday.
