Two Wexford communities are bracing themselves for a decision on the location of the county's new "super dump". Consultants examining three possible sites are to present their findings to a meeting of Wexford County Council on December 11th.
Two of the sites are in the same area near Wexford town, close to the existing county dump at Killurin, which has a life-span of two or three more years. The other is in the north of the county near the village of Camolin.
The 100-acre "central waste management facility" is to include a composting yard, reception and storage facilities as well as a 40-acre landfill, and will cater for the county's waste for 20 years.
Residents in both areas are fearful that a decision to site the dump locally will have a negative impact, and have mounted expensive campaigns to challenge the findings of Wexford County Council's consultants, Fehily, Timoney and Co.
The Barntown Environmental Alliance, which opposes locating the dump at either Cools or Holmestown, says the area has "had its fill of landfills".
The group claims a landfill on either location would be within 200 m of the N25 Euroroute, a "scenic route" in the draft county development plan.
It says there are 300 homes close to the two sites, which are less than a mile apart, and a number of local enterprises, including a nursing home with 36 bedrooms. "The serious health risk for patients and staff arising from flies, vermin [and] smells should be obvious to the county council and consultants alike," it said in a submission to the council.
Mr Pat Kavanagh, chairman of the alliance, says most people in the area rely on private water supplies, and there are fears the 120 wells in the area would be affected.
In Camolin, there is deep anger that a local amenity area, Newbridge Wood, is being considered as a landfill site. Mr Martin Ryan, chairman of the Camolin Area Environmental Association, says the proposed site is less than 250 m from Ballyduff village, which has a school, church, shops and houses, and was far from the main urban centres where most waste was produced.
"It's a genuine amenity area used extensively by local people and their children," he says. "I've said before that selecting this site would be like going into a town park and turning it into a dump."
Like the Barntown alliance, his group has hired professionals from various fields to help bolster its case. It says the soil structure in the proposed site is unsuitable and carries the potential of groundwater contamination, while fish life in three local tributaries of the Bann and Slaney would be affected.
Wexford's assistant county manager, Mr John Hutchinson, replies that if the soil type is unsuitable for a landfill, locals have "nothing to be concerned about", as the tests being carried out by Fehily and Timoney will confirm this. "If the [consultants'] report says a site is unsuitable, we will not be proceeding any further."
He says it is to be expected that residents will make the best case possible against the selection of a local site, but the council must have a new waste facility in place by the time the Killurin dump closes.
Even after next month's meeting, there is still some way to go before a final decision. It is expected the consultants will identify the "emerging preferred site" on December 11th, but further tests and an environmental impact assessment must then be carried out.
Residents fear, however, that from next month there will be no turning back. The Barntown alliance claims the council has not done a comprehensive search of the county in the first place and their area has been chosen because it is convenient to Wexford town.
It questions how 28 of the 29 sites examined by the consultants, before the shortlist of three was produced, happen to be owned by Coillte. Mr Hutchinson says the search was comprehensive and there are good reasons why Coillte sites are favoured, including the poor drainage of most forestry sites, which made them more suitable for landfills.
He says the council will seek, through increased recycling, minimisation, re-use and composting, to limit the amount of waste going into the new facility. At present growth rates, the 55,000 tonnes of waste going into the Killurin dump each year would double in the life-span of the new landfill. The council, however, is to apply for a licence for an annual 60,000 tonnes only.
