Evening Echo - 06-07-05
By Sean Graham
CHASE hopes to meet minister

CAMPAIGNERS opposed to the granting of a toxic waste licence for an incinerator in Ringiskiddy are to continue to lobby both the Minister for Health and the Minister for the Environment on the issue.

With less than three weeks before the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules on whether or not it will green-light the €93 million facility, a Cork environmentalist group feels that many questions remain unanswered about the impact of the incinerator on public health.

Cork Harbour Alliance for a Safe Environment (CHASE) is also hoping for a face-to-face meeting with Minister for the Environment Dick Roche. Several requests have been made for meetings with Minister for Health Mary Harney and Mr Roche over the last year, but all have been ignored, according to CHASE.

The EPAs ruling on the granting of a waste management licence to Indaver Ireland follows a lengthy oral hearing on the application earlier this year. A large number of local groups and individuals, including CHASE, made presentations to the EPA outlining their objections to the move.

CHASE member Mary O'Leary said she understands that neither minister can interfere with the independence of the EPA. "We want to know which department ultimately has responsibility for this incinerator and who will answer our concerns about public health," she said.

"We have engaged in every stage of the process, but feel that many of our questions have not been addressed. "All we can do now is have faith in the oral hearing process and await
the outcome of the Inspector's report on July 22. If it is unfavourable, we will decide on a plan of action then."