Fears voiced in Cork over revived plans for €200m incinerator in harbour – ‘it is a city issue too’

By Peter McCarthy, Corkman

Cork city councillors have joined their county council colleagues in voicing opposition to the revived plans to build an incinerator at Ringaskiddy, saying the facility would also impact the city and not just communities living in the Lower Harbour.

The latest plan for the incinerator, which was first proposed back in 2001, is currently before An Coimisiún Pleanála with the window for public submissions closing on November 17. The €200m facility with a capacity to handle up to 240,000 tonnes of waste annually has always been strongly opposed by locals who fear it would pose a health threat.

Green Party Councillors Dan Boyle, Oliver Moran and Honore Kamegni put forward a motion at this week’s meeting of Cork City Council calling on the local authority to ask the government to increase the levy on incineration in the forthcoming finance bill. Cllr Boyle said the current incineration levy is €10 per ton while the levy for waste going to landfill is €55 per ton.

“So if we want to encourage recycling and discourage waste disposal, we need to have levies that are equal to each other. So on that grounds we're proposing it, but it's also an opportunity for the council to consider the application for an incinerator in Cork Harbour. I believe Cork City Council should be making a submission on circular economy grounds and on social and environmental cost grounds,” he said.

“I would ask the council to avail of this opportunity to make such a statement and ask that our executive make a presentation to An Coimisiún Pleanála so that the economic and environmental case for the proposed incinerator be seen at its rightful term and that we have proper taxation instruments to make sure that we don't go down the road that for 25 years we have done very well without.”

Cllr Moran said that “we may recognise the boundary between the city and the county but air pollution doesn't. It is one Cork harbour. It doesn't suddenly stop and become city, it is one harbour” while Cllr Kamegni said the incinerator “is something that is going to affect all of us.”

Labour Councillor Peter Horgan supported the motion, saying “it's not something that just affects the Lower Harbour. I looked at the plume plotter for Cobh the other night and it showed that the winds that night would engulf Douglas and Blackrock. It is a city issue, it is a Cork issue.”

Cllr Kieran McCarthy said “there's a lot of worry in the Lower Harbour and even in the south-east side of the city when it comes to the proposed incinerator. There has been intensive research that has proven the plumes from toxic waste incinerators cause significant pollution to water and food.”

Elected members of Cork County Council have also spoken out against the incinerator plan. “We may be tired of dealing with this issue but the committees and people of the Lower Harbour will not take this lying down and we intend to fight this to the very end,” Cllr Eoghan Fahy said at a recent meeting. Cllr Audrey Buckley told the Irish Independent she has delivered almost 100 written submissions to the offices of the planning appeal board.

The latest planning documentation filed by the applicant, Indaver Ireland, states that if permission is granted, the incinerator is expected to be operational in 2030. The company says the facility would handle household, commercial, industrial, non-hazardous and suitable hazardous waste and generate enough electricity to power around 30,000 homes.