This article is from page 2 of the 2011-10-04 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 2 JPG
PLANS to develop an incinerator in the county to help deal with the disposal of waste in the mid west region have been scrapped, a decision that comes ahead of the imminent closure of the Inagh landfill facility.
The incinerator, labelled a thermal treatment facility, was earmarked for Gillogue, near Clonlara in south east Clare and with the application lodged by Energy Recovery Limerick in conjunction with Clare County Council. The move to develop an incinerator was first mooted in 2009 when then Minister for Defence, Willie O’Dea, launched Energy Recovery Limerick, which pledged to invest € 80m into the mid west economy by developing thermal treatment facilities for the Clare, Limerick and Kerry catchment.
News of the decision to terminate the project, for the time being at least, for the Gillogue site has been learned by The Clare People this week, with An Bord Pleánala confirming that a preapplication consultation by Energy Recovery Limerick and Clare County Council has now been withdrawn.
An application was submitted to An Bord Pleanála in October 2010, but the Clare Green Party immedi- ately railed against the proposal with Cllr Brian Meaney saying “this is not a solution to our waste problems and I would be opposing any application that involves thermal treatment”.
However, the development of thermal treatment facilities for the county is contained in the 2005-2011 Clare County Development Plan, with the blueprint noting that “within the greater Limerick area there is a need for a thermal treatment facility to treat residual combustible waste”.
A feasibility study found that the “Limerick/Clare/Kerry Region could benefit from the development of thermal waste treatment capacity” and that “thermal waste treatment is environmentally, technically, and economically feasible at the recommended scale”.
However, plans for developing such a facility at the old Burlington factory in Gillogue, which was considered a suitable given its location away from high density residential development, were terminated with An Bord Pleánala signing an order to this effect on September 22. The Clare People contacted the environment section of Clare County Council this Monday, but a spokesperson was unavailable for comment.