Rosderra to be prosecuted on range of issues

Rosderra Irish Meats Group based in Edenderry is on a list of the latest National Priority Sites List for Enforcement.

It is one of five sites published on Thursday by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for failing to meet the necessary environmental standards between January-June 2018.

Rosderra Irish Meats operates a pig slaughtering and processing facility in Edenderry under an EPA licence.

The EPA say Rosderra Irish Meats is on the National Priority Site list because of issues with the discharge of contaminated surface water and the operation of the waste water treatment plant.

"The EPA continues to receive complaints about odour and noise from the facility. The EPA is currently taking a prosecution against the facility and the case is before the courts," it said.

Other companised on the list include Arrow Group in Kildare, Lacpatrick Dairies Limited, Monaghan; Starrus Eco Holdings Limited (Munster), Cork; and Western Brand Group Limited, Mayo.

These companies face further enforcement action.

Four of the five sites are from the agri-food sector; this sector has accounted for almost half of all priority sites since publication last year.

Of the 19 sites published on the list since it commenced, 13 have either been convicted or now face prosecution.

Four sites have come off the previous National Priority Site List following improvements in compliance including T & J Standish (Roscrea) Limited in Offaly is one of the four sites that have come off the previous National Priority Site List following improvements in compliance or reduced risk.

Licensed facilities are identified as National Priority Sites for enforcement using a system developed by the EPA.

Points are allocated to each site based on compliance data such as complaints, incidents and non-compliances over the previous six months.

Sites which exceed a certain threshold become a National Priority Site and are targeted by the EPA for further enforcement action.

The National Priority Sites for Enforcement system was launched by the EPA in July 2017 to drive further environmental compliance at industrial and waste facilities.

The EPA will update the National Priority Sites list on a quarterly basis.