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Green Party TD for Dún Laoghaire
Ciarán Cuffe has called for the circumstances of the planning
and design of the wastewater treatment plant at Ringsend in Dublin
to be investigated by the Oireachtas Committee on the Environment,
Heritage and Local Government.
A report published today by the Department of the Environment was
commissioned to determine why the plant was working above and beyond
the capacity it was designed for and why there was a serious odour
problem associated with the plant.
Deputy Cuffe said: "As a member of the Oireachtas Environment
Committee, I have written to Chairman Sean Fleming to request that
the Committee investigates this matter in further detail.
"It appears from the report that Dublin City Council seriously
underestimated the pollution load level that the plant could handle
and that it has been frequently operating above its design capacity
since its construction.
"I want to know why the odour levels permitted under the operation
contract were up to twenty times above those allowed for in the
Environmental Impact Statement. How can such a discrepancy be
explained?
"Following on from the continual controversy over the Ringsend
incinerator, this raises questions as to the ability of Dublin City
Council to handle large environmental infrastructure projects. When
something such as odour limits are out by a factor of twenty, people
naturally worry about public health implications and it makes you
wonder what type of planning systems the Council has in place.
"The City Council has questions to answer about the contract and
commissioning of this plant," Deputy Cuffe concluded. |
