Bord Pleanala hears concerns over delayed start to hearing

College Proteins in Nobber has established itself as one of Ireland's main processors of animal by-products, company CEO John Gilroy told the oral hearing last Wednesday. Since its establishment in Nobber in 1989, College Proteins is "very important to the Irish agri-food industry" and the company is "constantly refining the rendering process to incorporate the best available technologies in the industry", he said. He said the company consists of two rendering sites, the Category 1 site at Nobber and a Category 3 site at Farragh Proteins, Crossdoney, Co Cavan. The Category 1 site at Nobber takes raw material which is unfit for human and animal consumption and is for disposal only. He said all finished products must be disposed of by incineration under the ABP legislation. He added the College Proteins Group has a long tradition of providing quality services to the food industry and that it is striving to become a complete, secure and safe disposal route for these raw materials within the food industry and was the only company in Ireland able to service the wide range of customer bases and handle all categories of animal by-products and process them into a range of different products. He said the group directly employs 100 people and that the proposed project is designed to retain long-term sustainability of the company within the sector. He believed there was a need for the proposed development. He said Ireland is committed to producing more energy from sustainable renewable sources in order to limit climate change. "The use of meat and bonemeal as a biomass for power generation is carbon neutral," he added. Ireland has a legal obligation under the EU Landfill Directive to reduce the amount of biodegradable material being sent to landfill and also must comply with the nitrates directive in relation to the landspreading of organic liquids, Mr Gilroy pointed out. The proposed development "addresses the challenges of security of supply, environmental sustainability and economic competitiveness," he added. Tadhg Boyle, project leader, said the disposal of category 1 material is the single largest issue facing the rendering industry. The proposal was in line with the Government's White Paper on Sustainable Energy. He said that a report by the Inter-Departmental Agency Committee on disposal options for MBM confirms that it is an ideal and safe product for energy production. Tadhg Boyle said: "College Proteins have identified sufficient quantities of organic liquids from companies in the north-east and eastern regions. This market research carried out by College Proteins has found that there is 92,677 tonnes per annum of organic liquids available. We intend to mix these organic liquids to meet the calorific value requirements of the process and to control the combustion temperature." He also cited the environmental benefits of the project. Gavin Lawlor, a chartered town planner and director of Tom Philips & Associates, said the Meath County Development Plan 2007-2013 supports the adoption of renewable energy technologies by industry and equally the expansion of existing operations in the countryside. He added that the use of emerging technologies such as fluidised bed combustion is supported in Agri Vision 2015 Action Plan. Raymond Goggin, of Molony Millar Consulting, civil and structural engineers, gave a site context and description of development. He showed drawings of the College Proteins site, including drawings of the proposed development. He also showed the site layout plan and elevation views of the proposal. He showed photos of the existing site and photos which included an idea of how the new development would be incorporated. He also discussed site investigation and the operation of the landfill including the testing of ash to determine hazardous from non-hazardous ash. He also detailed the water supply and drainage of the site. Air quality Dr Edward Porter, director of air quality and climate with AWN Consulting, said they modeled the existing site and modeled the proposed facility and took measurements. A baseline air quality survey was conducted, focusing on pollutants. He found dioxin levels typical of rural Ireland. He believed the impact of the proposed facility would be minor and limited to the immediate environs of the site. Modeling showed concentrations less than air quality standards for all compounds. He said a stack height of 40m is appropriate to ensure that ambient air quality standards are not exceeded. "The impact of the facility in terms of air quality and climate will not be significantly adverse," he said. Dr Brian Sheridan of Odour Monitoring Ireland said his company was commissioned to conduct a detailed appraisal and review of the odour air quality impacts associated with the operation of the existing and propsed facility at College Proteins. He said "the proposed facility design and operation will not result in any significant increase in odour impact in the vicinity of the facility". Tadhg Boyle, project leader, said College has invested in odour abatement technology and has a continuous environmental improvement policy. He said the company makes substantial and continuous investment in plant and transport to improve performance. Michael Bailey of Envirocon Ltd, concluded that "predicted odour concentrations will not result in an odour nuisance at the nearest sensitive receptor from the operation of the planned CHP plant" and that "results of both the model of choice (AERMOD) and the alternative model (ADMS4) show low level of air quality impact". Dr Fergal Callaghan of AWN Consulting said that an extensive baseline soil and air dioxin survey was undertaken. His conclusions included that "the Food Safety Authority of Ireland has advised that correctly run incinerators pose no threat to agricultural produce". He said that "dioxins are emitted by many natural and man-made sources and incinerators emit a very small fraction of dioxins when compared with other emission sources". The North-East Against Incineration group will challenge the assertions and conclusions of experts speaking on behalf of College Proteins when the NEAI group members and representatives are given their opportunity to address the hearing this week.