Press Release - 25-11-05
CHASE IS VERY ANGRY AT THE EPA DECISION TO GRANT LICENCE

"The decision by the EPA, announced this morning (25th November 2005), to grant a waste licence to Indaver Ireland to operate a 100,000 tonne hazardous waste incinerator and a 100,000 tonne municipal waste incinerator at Ringaskiddy comes as no surprise", said a spokeswoman for CHASE. "We will now study the decision with our legal advisers and consult with the group before deciding how best to further our objectives".

The outcome was never in any doubt because:

• The EPA had previously granted the company a draft waste licence in 2004.
  
• As a result of major objections from the community an Oral Hearing was granted to look at how the draft licence was granted. The Oral Hearing was conducted by the EPA. (The Board of directors were asked to attend the Hearing but refused). The EPA then adjudicated over their own decision to grant the licence.
  
• CHASE has no confidence in the EPA’s ability to make a reasoned fully informed decision about health especially when they did not avail of the opportunity to challenge or request any further medical information at the Hearing. It is also of grave concern to CHASE that the compelling medical evidence presented at the Oral Hearing by national and international medical experts has been ignored.

Dr Anthony Staines, co-author of the Government comissioned Health Research Bureau Report and Senior Lecturer at the Dept. of Public Health, UCD, told the Hearing that the company had not undertaken a Health Impact Assessment on the impact the facility would have on the health of the community.

The Hearing also heard evidence from Dr Gavin ten Tusscher, Paediatritian, Diatician, Scientist and Member of the EU group on the Bio Monitoring of Children, that medical research is now revealing that damage to health is occurring even at permitted licence limits. He strongly advised the EPA not to grant the licence especially when there are now safer alternatives.

This was the only medical evidence the EPA had to rely on when making this decision. CHASE notes that there is no medical expertise available within the EPA and that there no adequate structures to import such expertise as the decision is made by the Directors alone based on information gathered at the Oral Hearing.

By granting this licence, the EPA have not fulfilled their legal obligations and have exposed the public to unnecessary harm.

Planning Permission for the incinerator is currently under legal challenge and awaits hearing by the High Court.

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For further information:

Mary Hurley, CHASE PRO, 021 4813070 086 8162448
Mary O’Leary, CHASE Chairperson, 021 4811952 086 8177737