Oral hearing into Nobber incinerator

A meeting is being held in Nobber Community Centre tomorrow (Thursday) night to prepare for a planned oral hearing into College Protein"s proposed combined heat and power (CHP) plant, which An Bord Pleanála has scheduled for late August. A preliminary hearing will be held on Monday 18th August in the Newgrange Hotel, Navan, and the same venue will host a full hearing, starting on Tuesday 26th August. A total of 129 local people made submissions on the incinerator application, which is being fast-tracked through the planning stage under the Strategic Infrastructural Development Schemes (SIDS) procedure. North-East Against Incineration (NEAI) secretary John Keogan said this week his group would have a planning expert present to take concerned locals through the oral hearing procedures. NEAI is also organising a number of expert witnesses to substantiate its objections and to plan how to use the oral hearing process most effectively, he added. Fianna Fail Meath East TD Thomas Byrne has urged those who made SIDS submissions to prepare formal oral submissions for the August hearings. There were important health and environmental considerations to take into account in the CHP project, he said. It was important that job creation was encouraged across the county 'but not at any cost', he added. The formal opening of the oral hearing will be taken up by the firm and those opposed to the CHP proposal nominating their expert witnesses while the Bord Pleanala official chairing the hearing is also likely to work out a schedule of these and other witnesses, including some of the residents of the Nobber area who lodged objections. This marks the first SIDS oral hearing procedure in County Meath and seems certain to attract interest from planners, construction and agricultural professionals as well as community groups. The full hearing is likely to feature extensive reports from NEAI technical advisors, addressing the already extensive reports submitted by College Proteins to back its incinerator proposal. A spokesperson for College Proteins said this week the firm welcomed the oral hearing. While the company said the proposed biomass CHP plant posed no threat or any other risk to people or the environment, it acknowledged there were concerns among some local residents. The August hearings would provide an opportunity to those who have made submissions to Bord Pleanála to make their case, he added. The spokesperson said College Proteins would provide all possible information required by the board inspector during his inquiry. Meanwhile, a call for an independent study of all existing toxins in the Duleek area prior to the development of the new Indaver incinerator at Carranstown has been made by local community activist Pat O"Brien. 'If this development is to go ahead, then we must fight for proper controls and regulations,' he said. 'An independent baseline study of all existing toxins should be completed without delay, so that if there are problems in the future regarding emissions, we will have something to compare it with.' Mr O"Brien said the costs of an independent study could be funded by all the companies involved in heavy industry within the region, including Indaver, Irish Cement and GreenStar. 'We have been calling for baseline studies and a proper detailed health impact assessment for some time now. With Indaver to start building within the next month or so, I strongly believe the Environment Minister, John Gormley, should immediately arrange these studies before construction is completed.' He said he would also like to see a permanent EPA Regional office established in the area. 'We already have a lot of industrial challenges here, with the planned incinerator on the way, the proposed power plant back on the horizon, the existing extension to the Irish Cement works in Platin and rumours of further large chemical industries on the way,' said Mr O"Brien. 'A permanent regional EPA Office would help to bring some sort of comfort and confidence to the people living within region in relation to proper monitoring and regulation of these facilities.' He said the Minister would also have to address the problems within the EPA as a whole, and make sure it was properly funded, staffed, and had the legal powers to do the job properly. 'At the moment, the EPA is seen as a toothless monster, with no real powers to do the job. There is no confidence in them to protect anything, or anybody, at this moment in time.' Mr O"Brien said he feared the powers that be had a plan to turn the Carranstown area into the dumping capital of Ireland, with a lot of nasty industries that nobody else wanted. 'This will bring huge challenges to everybody living and working within the region, especially the farming community who rely on the good name of their produce for their living,' he said.