Residents outline 'dreadful" effects of landfill on lives

The Bord Pleanala hearing on a proposal by the Greenstar company to increase its acceptance of waste at the Knockharley landfill from 132,000 tonnes to 400,000 tonnes annually heard graphic and emotional submissions from local residents describing the 'dreadful' effect the dump has had and is having on their lives. The oral hearing, which went on for several days at the Marriott Hotel, Ashbourne, last week, was told of the regular noxious odours and emissions from the dump. Windows and doors of homes in the area had had to be kept closed at all times, according to residents, and several said that they felt like prisoners in their own homes. They also said they feared for their health and the health of their families following reports of high levels of 'dangerous emissions' from the dump. They also expressed their anxiety at claims that Greenstar seemed unable to manage the dump at its current rate of intake and that, even if its proposal shortened the life of the dump, as the company had claimed at the hearing, their suffering would become even more intense. Greenstar said that its proposal to increase the tonnage accepted at the landfill would shorten its life by 16 years. Residents told Bord Pleanala inspector Breda Gannon that they felt abandoned and betrayed by Meath County Council and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) who had 'paid little or no heed' to their plight, despite bringing to their attention what they believed to be serious breaches of planning permissions and conditions of Greenstar"s waste licence. Barrister Michael McDonnell, on behalf of the residents, was strong in his condemnation of the authorities, saying that he found it extraordinary that issues which had been highlighted had, in effect, been ignored. He also strongly criticised the environmental impact statement produced by Greenstar as part of the application for a number of reasons, particularly because of lack of any detail regarding the impact of emissions on the health of the local population. The EPA, in its annual audit in January this year, issued non-compliance notices to Greenstar because of odour nuisance. It was also noted that the EPA was now in the process of prosecuting Greenstar because of odour nuisance outside the boundary of the dump in 2007-2008. A waste management specialist, PJ Rudden, said, on behalf of Meath County Council, the application to increase the tonnage should be refused on the basis of the over-capacity of landfill in the country at present, and the fact that approving such a proposal would be contrary to Irish and European waste management policy.