A PUBLIC hearing begins this morning on the proposal by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to grant a waste licence for the Poolbeg incinerator to Dublin City Council.
The council was last year granted permission by An Bord Pleanála to build the incinerator, despite strong opposition from local groups and politicians including the former minister for justice Michael McDowell and Green Party TD John Gormley, before his appointment as Minister for Environment.
However, the council must also secure a licence from the EPA to run the incinerator.
Last November the EPA said that it proposed to grant the licence and members of the public were then allowed 28 days to object to this proposal.
This is part of the statutory process for waste licences and the EPA could, at the end of the 28-day period, have issued its final decision on the licence. However, it decided to hold an oral hearing to allow both the council and objectors to put forward their views in relation to the incinerator.
The EPA received 14 objections to the granting of a licence, with Labour Party TD Ruairí Quinn, Sinn Féin MEP Mary Lou McDonald and Mr Gormley's party colleague Ciarán Cuffe, among the objectors. Each of the 14 are entitled to speak at the hearing.
Mr Gormley, before his appointment, registered his opposition to the potential granting of a licence in a letter to the EPA dated October 5th, 2006, however he has said that his current position legally prohibits him from becoming involved in the licensing process. His Dáil constituency includes the Poolbeg site, and he was an objector at the Bord Pleanála hearing, which took place before the last general election.
The plant, which will be Dublin's first municipal waste incinerator and one of the largest in Europe, would have the capacity to burn 600,000 tonnes of waste annually. It would be highly unusual for the EPA to reverse the proposal to grant the licence, however it could make changes to the licence, such as reducing the capacity.
The EPA's sanction is not the final hurdle faced by the council in relation to the plant, as one group of objectors, Combined Residents Against Incineration, have initiated legal action against the incinerator. The action relates to certain EU environmental directives. A High Court date has yet to be set. The council has maintained its confidence in the plant going ahead and has signed a contract with developer Treasury Holdings to provide heating for apartments in Spencer Dock from the energy created by the incinerator.
