Incinerator campaign has been 'draining for people’

Although the campaign against the planned College Proteins meat and bonemeal incinerator in Nobber has cost the community €250,000 to date, North-East Against Incineration (NEAI) told a public meeting in the village last week that it would not give up the fight. “We're not giving up. The incinerator doesn't need to be built and we're going to ensure that it isn't built,†NEAI chairman Christy O'Reilly told a packed meeting in the local hall last Friday night. He said that the Strategic Infrastructure Act under which College Proteins is applying for planning approval, is geared against communities and that the campaign has been financially, physically and emotionally draining for people in the area. The meeting was attended by two general election candidates, Fianna Fail's Thomas Byrne and Labour's Senator Dominic Hannigan, who gave their views of the proposed development. Senator Hannigan said he was supportive of NEAI. “We are all against this proposal. We all need to work together on this,†he said. He praised NEAI for highlighting this issue, saying he had fought against the Indaver incinerator at Carranstown, Duleek, adding that he learned a lot about issues on waste disposal at that time and has raised in the Seanad the issue of waste disposal. He added that the Labour Party would like to see greater emphasis and research on anaerobic digestion and also into landfill. He would favour a system where independent and free advice on waste disposal would be given to communities by experts. Thomas Byrne said he, too, was supportive of NEAI, adding that he has objected to the project personally and on behalf of the party. “I wouldn't want it beside me so why should you?†he told the meeting. He said it was important that anyone with any views on the development make a submission to An Bord Pleanala. NEAI chairman Christy O'Reilly said: “We have been fighting this campaign for a considerable time and we will continue to fight it.†He said the group has continued working, fundraising and responding to the further information requested of College Proteins by Bord Pleanala last summer. He added that the closing date for submissions to Bord Pleanala regarding new information supplied by College Proteins relating to the application has been extended to Friday 21st January. Last June, Bord Pleanala requested further information from College Proteins in relation to nine areas of its application. NEAI regards the proposal as nothing more than an incinerator and contends that it is not as energy efficient as proposed by College Proteins. NEAI argues that information requested by Bord Pleanala in June results from omissions in the original application, as highlighted by NEAI at the second oral hearing in the Nuremore Hotel, Carrickmacross, in October and November 2009. Mr O'Reilly claimed that the proposal is not a combined heat and power plant as stated by College Proteins and that NEAI regards the project as an incinerator. He said that while there were only two recorded cases of BSE last year, that this risk is now gone. At the oral hearings, College Proteins argued that, in light of the BSE issue 10 years ago, incineration was the only way to dispose of meat and bonemeal. Nobber GP Dr Martin White said the circumstances of BSE risk have totally changed since this project was first proposed in 2002. Dr White said the proposal is not in the national interest. He added that BSE was not as big a risk as it was several years ago and spoke of the concerns for the health of the general population in the area as a result of emissions from the proposed plant and how these emissions would then affect the agricultural industry. He said our food business should be as clean as possible and allowing a proposal like this was unacceptable. He called on politicians to put this issue into their manifestos. Cllr Eugene Cassidy of Fine Gael said there should be clarification from the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Environment on the permitted uses of MBM. He cited Professor Patrick Wall of UCD and former chairman of the European Food Safety Authority, who said that MBM can be used in certain animal feedstuffs. Dr Wall had stated last year that as the risk of BSE has been reduced and that ruminant meat and bonemeal could be fed to poultry. Fine Gael TD Shane McEntee, in a statement, said: “Fine Gael's policy has been, and is, against incineration. It is opposed to the granting of planning permission for further incineration facilities in the north-east region and nationally. I fully expect, and I will be seeking to ensure, that the same position is enshrined in Fine Gael's election manifesto and its future policies.†He added that, light of the almost total eradication of BSE within the Irish herd, he would also be seeking that the new government fast-track the ongoing EU review on the relaxation or lifting of the ban on the use of MBM as a valuable protein in specific feedstuffs. “This would provide safe, value-added, financially beneficial disposal routes for the product and compound the fact that there is and there will be no need for the proposed facility in Nobber or anywhere else in the country,†he said. Sinn Fein's Meath East candidate Michael Gallagher said he has opposed the proposal and has made a submission against the proposal at both oral hearings and intends to make a further submission this month. “This planning has been made under the Strategic Infrastructure Act, a Bill which Sinn Fein opposed when it was introduced in 2006. I feel this application should not have come under this legislation,†he said. He added that Sinn Fein's policy was totally against incineration for health reasons and the negative effect it could have on the farming industry.