Published: Friday, 31st October, 2008 12:00pm
Regional super dump for Tullamore
Derryclure landfill outside of Tullamore is set to become the only dump for four Midlands counties over the next decade.
The proposal would involve more than doubling the current annual waste intake at what would become a regional super dump.
The news emerged as Offaly County Council lodged plans with An Bord Pleanala to increase the capacity at Derryclure from the current 40,000 tonnes per annum to 100,000 tonnes per annum.
The council wants to expand the landfill to prevent a dumping crises in the Midlands and help out neighbouring local authorities, as three landfill sites in Athlone, North Tipperary and Laois are due to close shortly.
'The intensification of waste intake at Derryclure landfill will provide much needed capacity for the Midlands Region, given the pending closures of Ballydonagh, Ballaghveny and Kyletalesha landfills respectively,' said the Environmental Impact Statement accompanying the application.
The council said the region would face a shortfall of landfill capacity in the Midlands in the short and medium term, if it failed to act.
An alternative option of developing a greenfield site was rejected by the council as being in conflict with national policy, time constraints and economic viability.
By taking in the extra 60,000 tonnes per year, its believed that the landfill would reach capacity by 2018.
The council says the increased facility would cause a reduction of leachate (the liquid that drains from waste in a landfill), so there would be less risk of groundwater pollution. The report said that the leachate would decrease in volume due to a greater absorbency in the waste itself.
The report also predicts that although landfill gas quantities will increase, it would make the generation of renewable electricity on site more feasible.
Local air quality may suffer due to extra dust and gas emissions. There will also be an increase in noise levels, due to the increase in daily work at the site. There will also be an increase in traffic levels, as an extra 25 trucks per day will be entering the site from the N80 turn-off.
No additional physical development of the site is needed, as the nine lined cells within the site are already constructed.
If An Bord Planeala grants permission for the expansion, the cells will be opened, filled and closed on a staggered basis between 2009 and 2018.
The extension of these cells will take place under the council"s current waste licence which was granted by the EPA.
The Environmental Impact Statement is available for public inspection at county council offices in Tullamore for six weeks.
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