Cork Harbour Incinerator: Deferral No 5 - Next deadline set for September

cork | environment | press release Monday August 14, 2017 23:25 by CHASE - Cork Harbour Alliance for a Safe Environment.

The 5th deadline of today, 10 August set by Bord Pleanala for a decision on the controversial Ringaskiddy incinerator application has passed and a new date of 12 September 2017 has been set. A decision on this application is now over a year behind the original July 2016 statutory deadline set in order to meet Strategic Infrastructure Planning application guidelines.

Bord Pleanala have advised by phone that the file is gone back to the Board who may do one of three things, either (a) make a decision (b) send back to the Inspector to do an additional report on information from 3rd parties in response to Indavers new information or (c) re-open the Oral Hearing. Observations submitted by 3rd parties have been added to the public file at Cork County Council offices where they are available for viewing only.

CHASE Chairperson Mary O’Leary said “We believe that this is a grossly unprofessional application, with confirmed dioxin errors exposed at the Oral Hearing and seriously flawed new material submitted by Indaver in May 2017, which includes a shocking 57m underestimation of vertical plume risk area for helicopters, a model man starved in order to comply with EU Dioxin limits and ongoing dioxin figure discrepancies.

We believe that gravity of the flaws, detailed in observations to date and submitted to Bord Pleanala, are alone serious enough to merit a refusal within any of their timelines. It is important to remember that Bord Pleanala have set each deadline and should perhaps set feasible targets and adhere to them, just as the community has no option but to adhere to the tight timeframes we are presented with.”

As yet no specific reason has been given for the current deferral, however CHASE has requested since the outset that a full Board make and take responsibility for a decision on this saga which is now in it’s 17th year.