Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Landfill odour

A judgment will be given next week on an EPA application for an injunction preventing A1 Waste from disposing waste at a landfill in Kerdiffstown, Naas, Co Kildare.

A1 Waste is the largest firm in Dublin dealing in construction and demolition waste. It also collects commercial and some household waste.

In 2003, the EPA granted Neiphin Trading, a company associated with A1 Waste, a waste licence to operate a landfill in Kerdiffstown.

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SC for the EPA, Nuala Butler, said the Agency is concerned that the Neiphin facility is causing serious environmental pollution because of strong odours from landfill gas and odours from composting activities.

She said the agency had received 312 complaints since last August from residents and from the GPA Golf Club, which is located next door to the facility.

In one affidavit, a resident, Robert Dunleavy, who lives 2km from the landfill said smells from the facility had become unbearable and that he and his wife were in the process of moving house to temporary rented accommodation.

Mr Dunleavy said the smells had forced him to vomit on a number of occasions.

A1 Waste claims that granting the injunction would 'effectively shut down the business', make 106 employees redundant and have significant knock on effects for 50 indirect jobs.

SC for Neiphin Trading, Shane Murphy, said the EPA was trying to stop the heart of the A1 Waste operation and that the company has a template of measures that they are willing to implement to address the odour problems.

Ms Butler asked why they have not taken any action since last July when EPA inspectors raised issues with the facility. She added that the measures being put forward were not approved by the EPA.

The High Court heard that the EPA is taking separate court action against Neiphin Trading and others for the illegal disposal of 1.1m tonnes of waste in another unengineered section of the Neiphin facility. A1 Waste claims the deposited material is being stored there pending recycling/recovery.

Mr Justice Ryan will give his judgement on the EPA application next Monday at 10.30am.