CHASE Press Release - 17-06-09
- Maritime College Lecturer Says Incinerators Will Negatively Impact College
- Department of Environment Recommends Bond to Cover Ecological Restoration In Case of Accident

Mr Jody Power, Staff Engineering Lecturer, at the National Maritime College Ireland (NMCI), gave evidence at today’s Oral Hearing, and told the hearing that having visited MSW Incinerators in Denmark, in his opinion, the proposed incinerators would severely impact the development of the NMCI and adversely affect the international reputation of the college.

Mr Power, who also holds the title of Engineering Consultant to Zero Waste Alliance Ireland (ZWAI) said "The proposed incinerators will, in my opinion, adversely affect the international reputation at the college, and hinder its ability to attract and retain staff and make student enrolement a nightmare."

Mr Power referenced his site visits to incinerators in Denmark and the poor outcomes evidenced for health, food, recycling rates and amenity as a stark warning to Ireland of what a future with incinerators would look like here. He also highlighted that "With increased levels of incineration in Denmark, recycling rates have plummeted to become one of the lowest in the EU according to eurostat 2007 figures. 84% of Copenhagen’s landmass is polluted with heavy metals and coastline pollution is one of the worst examples, with fish consumption restricted from the Baltic area. What is proposed by the incinerator application has very serious implications for Cork Harbour and our national reputation as a green, clean country."

The original submission made on behalf of Zero Waste Alliance Ireland outlined the conflicts of the application with Ireland’s Government Policy with respect to our Kyoto protocol obligations to reduce greenhouse gasses.

In the morning session, under questioning from Engineer Alan Watson on behalf of CHASE, Mr Jarvis Good, from the Department of Environment Birds and Wildlife Section, admitted that there was a lack of baseline monitoring data available for bird species. It was confirmed that there is No Data in Indavers EIS relating to current exposure, and Mr Watson questioned how when current body burden was not measured, a conclusion can be reached regarding effects of additional exposure. Mr Watson said "It is like if a barman offers a man a pint, he is not in a position to judge whether that man will be able to drive or not, if he doesn't know how much the man has already had to drink."

Mr Jarvis Good, concluded his paper with the recommendation "that a bond is received [from Indaver] to cover full costs of any ecological monitoring and restoration required for Cork Harbour pSPA (proposed Special Protection Area) or associated ecosystems, in the event of a serious accidental release of contaminants from the facility."

ENDS

Contacts:
Mary O’Leary, 086 8177737, 021 4811952
Mary Hurley, 086 8162448, 021 4803070
Linda FitzPatrick, 087 7410849, 021 4374506