The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has granted the Republic's first two licences for commercial waste incinerators. Tim O'Brien reports
The licences, which include stringent conditions, are for proposed incinerators at Carranstown, near Duleek in Co Meath, and Ringaskiddy in Co Cork.
The licences will not, however, affect challenges to the planning permission for both facilities currently before the courts.
The Carranstown incinerator is intended to handle municipal waste, while the Cork facility is to handle municipal as well as hazardous waste.
In granting the licences, the EPA said it was satisfied that subject to a number of conditions, the incinerators would not endanger human health or harm the environment. The conditions require operator Indaver Ireland to carry out monitoring programmes 20 times a year - 10 times more frequently than the level required by the EU.
The monitoring programmes must also be agreed in advance with the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, and all monitoring data must be made immediately available over the internet.
Additional conditions relate to communications with the local communities and construction supervision of the plants. The EPA said the conditions met the highest standards set by the EU.
The Office of Environmental Enforcement will monitor and enforce conditions through environmental audits, site visits and checks on emissions.
A two-month period during which a judicial review may be sought has now begun.
The granting of the licences was "noted" by Minister for the Environment Dick Roche, who stressed the independence of the agencies involved.
The decision was welcomed by Indaver Ireland yesterday, which said both licences required that each facility be operated to the highest-quality standards, exceeding those set by the EU.
"We must now assess the conditions attached to our licences to ensure that our facilities can be operated with maximum health and environmental protection while providing an economically sustainable solution for Ireland's waste," said John Ahern, the firm's managing director.
The decision was also welcomed by Ibec, which said the delay in providing waste infrastructure had caused a waste crisis "with exorbitant disposal costs, illegal dumping, enforcement concerns and limited waste disposal options".
However, the Meath-based No Incineration Alliance restated its concerns for public health and said it was pinning its hopes to block the project on a Supreme Court case against planning permission for the Meath plant.
Spokeswoman Áine Walsh told The Irish Times the anti-incinerator group had no confidence in the EPA and had always believed the EPA would license the incinerator. She said the Supreme Court case in relation to An Bord Pleanála's approval of planning permission was based on Ireland's application of the EU Directive on Environmental Impact Assessments.
Given that the EU Court of Justice had made two reasoned opinions against Ireland's transposition of this directive, the alliance felt it had a strong case.
A similar case against the Cork facility is currently before the High Court. A decision on this is not expected before the Supreme Court has determined the Meath case.
Friends of the Earth, the Green Party and Labour have also criticised the licensing decision.