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Proposed incinerator poses health concerns

Wednesday, 23 July 2008

A massive incinerator proposed for southwest Dublin, that would be the largest in Europe if it gets the go ahead, could pose a serious health risk to local residents, it has been claimed.
A noted physicist from the Southside, who is one of the main opponents to the Ringsend incinerator, claims that plans for the Rathcoole facility – which will bypass the normal planning process - are flawed.
US based Energy Answers International recently lodged an application for planning permission for a e200 million thermal waste treatment plant at Behan’s Quarry in Rathcoole near the N7 with An Bord Pleanála.
The company bypassed seeking planning permission from South Dublin County Council after An Bord Pleanála ruled last year that the project could avail of a fast-track procedure which allows strategic infrastructural developments to avoid applying for planning permission from a local authority.
Energy Answers claims its plant, which it describes as "a resource recovery project", is the first of its kind in Ireland. It is planned to thermally treat 356,000 tons of non-hazardous municipal solid waste at the facility each year.
However, a scientist who was one of the most vociferous opponents to the proposed Ringsend incinerator during the oral hearing into that facility - convened by An Bord Pleanála - said the concerns expressed by local residents about the potential adverse health effects of the plant were well founded.
Joe McCarthy from Sandymount, who is a physicist and qualified engineer, is also the man who exposed the electronic voting scandal that saw over e50 million being spent by the Government on machines that never worked.
He claimed the Rathcoole facility would be the largest incinerator in Europe and that it would pose a serious threat to the health of locals and the environment.
In April of last year, an incinerator that was originally designed and built by Energy Answers in Rochester, Massachusetts USA went on fire after an explosion.
Massive
It took several fire departments from a number of different counties in the state to extinguish the massive blaze and residents were advised by the authorities there to tape up their doors and windows to prevent smoke from penetrating their homes.
Mr McCarthy claimed that ever since the Rochester facility was opened in the 1980s it has “consistently” exceeded what would be acceptable levels for the emission of pollutants in the EU.
“There are two risks from this incinerator,” Mr McCarthy said. “One is to the climate and the other is to human health.
“This incinerator will also produce an enormous amount of particulate matter. This is tiny dust including dioxins and other things but the particulate matter is more dangerous [to human health] than dioxins.”
In addition, Mr McCarthy maintains that the main chimney from the proposed incinerator is not sufficiently high enough above ground level to effectively disperse pollutants emanating from it. He says this could be a serious hazard for some residents who live within 300 metres of the proposed plant.
The chief executive of Energy Answers International, Pat Mahoney, strongly disputed the claims made by Mr McCarthy and said the plant would operate within the standards set down by both the Environmental Protection Agency and the European Union.
“Our EIS shows that these are large units but whether they are the largest in Europe or not, I don’t know. I would dispute that but I don’t have that information,” he said.
“We have never exceeded the US levels acceptable for dioxins,” he added. “Our history has been that our US plant would meet EU standards.
Standards
“There is a requirement that we meet all EU standards and we have always met the standards in the place where our plants have operated. We will absolutely meet EU standards and there won’t be any violations.
“Neither have I seen any evidence nor has Joe McCarthy offered any evidence of any impact on human health or deaths due to the combustion of waste.”
He added that the company had submitted a sophisticated model for the main chimneystack to the EPA, which takes into account the topography of the land, the climatogical conditions and the amount of material coming out of the stack.

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