Locals make clear opposition to new MBM incinerator

OVER 170 locals packed into Nobber's village hall last Friday night where they overwhelmingly voiced their opposition to an incinerator recently approved for consideration by An Bord Pleanála under the Strategic Infrastructure Development Scheme (SIDS) for local factory, College Proteins.

The meeting was chaired by Larry McEntee, who had been elected chairman of a local residents' group four years ago when the firm previously indicated that it would seek planning permission for an incinerator to burn meat and bonemeal (MBM).

Guest speaker Pat O'Brien of the Duleek group opposing the Carranstown incinerator (for which Indaver has received planning permission) said: "Ten years after they proposed it, there are still cows grazing there."

He said opponents of an incinerator faced a long campaign and he urged them to join other communities faced by such plans. There were alternatives to incinerators, he added.

However, Mr O'Brien said there were major profits to be made by incineration, all of which caused problems of emissions. Just one accident at a plant would mean lifelong problems for a locality.

He said his group had presented a petition of 55,000 names against the Carranstown plant but even an inspector's report opposing it had failed to convince An Bord Pleanála. Court proceedings were very costly while he described the SIDS scheme was "anti-democratic and made local councillors virtually redundant".

He urged the Nobber residents to gather supporting experts and finance. The World Health Organisation (WHO) had labelled incinerators as the "biggest cause of dioxins" and monitoring of such plants in Ireland was currently unsatisfactory since operators got advance warning of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) visits, Mr O'Brien added.

Local GP, Dr Martin White, said that College Proteins had been licensed to process 30,000 tonnes of waste in 1994/'95 but this had since risen to 125,000 and the plant would process almost 200,000 tonnes if its incinerator got the go-ahead.

That would mean 3,900 tonnes of "very dangerous" fly ash passing through the village in sealed containers.

He recalled that plant management had agreed in 2004 to take the incinerator proposal "off the table after almost universal rejection". Dr White said he opposed incineration because of the "relatively uncontrolled and unknown hazard" it involved.

Those in the direction of prevailing winds could ingest nano-particles of discharges in their bloodstream. The Health Research Board still could not provide a scientific basis to judge incinerator safety in this country but the WHO report pointed to the "extreme vulnerability" of anyone suffering from asthma or cystic fibrosis as well as the elderly and young children from airborne emissions. He urged all Nobber people to campaign against the incinerator and asked why College Proteins was now bringing its proposal forward again.

Deputies Thomas Byrne and Shane McEntee also expressed their opposition to the proposal, and were joined by councillors Michael Gallagher and Eugene Cassidy.  Deputy Byrne urged locals to learn from the North-East Pylon Pressure campaign against the Eirgrid transmission lines. He also commended "very positive aspects" of the College Proteins operation.

Deputy McEntee called on locals to "get through without falling out with neighbours and protect jobs". He said he had never agreed with incineration and said it would "make a liar of (Environment Minister) John Gormley and his party (the Greens) if there's another incinerator in Meath". He suggested local people directly urge College Proteins to withdraw the proposal.

Colr Gallagher said that no SIDS projects had yet been turned down by An Bord Pleanála so locals faced an uphill battle. "The only way to fight it is people power, muster all the support you can," he added, noting properties would lose value and querying the value of promises that nearby water sources like Whitewood Lake, Lough Bracken and the River Dee would not be polluted.

Colr Cassidy said the issue was one for north Meath and south Cavan and urged everyone to make a submission to An Bord Pleanála once the firm's application went in.

He noted that the Lagan Cement factory near Kinnegad had burned almost 25,000 tonnes of such waste last year and planned to increase that to over 40,000, or more than a quarter of all meat and bonemeal in the country. Incineration was "a money racket and the 105,000 tonnes College Proteins plans to dispose of is just the thin end", he added.

Several speakers from the floor raised queries about the safety of villagers from extra heavy traffic and one even raised the prospect of withdrawing her child from school locally. Three speakers raised the problem of "a stench" from the existing plant.

The chairman said that he and two others present had meet with College Proteins three years ago to be notified of its withdrawal of its incinerator proposal at that time. Virtually every hand in the hall went up after the chairman asked for a show of opposition to the incineration proposal.