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The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking a High
Court case against the operators of a landfill site in Co
Kildare, claiming they are in breach of a licence granted
under the Waste Management Act.
The action is due to be heard by the High Court on March
22nd, having been rescheduled at least twice. People living
in the vicinity of the site at Kerdiffstown - between Naas
and Sallins - have complained of 'obnoxious' odours
emanating from a new composting facility, where brown bin
materials as well as 'mixed waste' and garden waste
are being treated.
Robert Dunleavy said the “sickening stench of rotting waste”
permeates the area on a daily basis, along with the smell
of burned rubbish - “complete with accompanying ash showers”.
It was so bad that “you must wonder why the locals have not
gone mad”.
He has told Minister for the Environment John Gormley that
“a constant stream of foul-smelling, rotten, toxic gas emanates
from this dump and drifts wherever the wind and air may carry
it ... causing the entire surrounding community severe distress”.
However, despite sending five emails to the Minister, all
he had received were acknowledgments and he had “yet to receive
a single response”. Describing this as “a disgrace”, he called
on Mr Gormley to say what action he would take to resolve
the problem.
A spokesman for Kerdiffstown Residents Association told the
Leinster Leader that it was “really a dreadful smell
and it sticks in the back of your throat. You cannot open
windows or doors in the house because of the odour” coming
from the landfill site".
Members of Naas Golf Club, which is located nearby, have
also complained about the odour. Club manager Denis Mahon
said it was working with the EPA to resolve the problem, but
“the stench has worsened in recent times and had spread to
a wide area”.
The site is operated by Neiphin Trading Ltd, a company associated
with A1
Waste, which claims to be 'one of the largest waste
management companies in Ireland, providing a comprehensive
waste management service throughout the greater Dublin area'.
Its website says the firm runs a waste transfer station in
Walkinstown and a 'CD (construction and demolition) waste
recovery and recycling centre' at Kerdiffstown
under an EPA licence with 'stringent environmental and
operational conditions'.
It describes the Kerdiffstown site as 'an old landfill
which had been used for the disposal mainly of CD waste since
the early 1940s'. This in situ waste was now being
excavated and processed on site, which has a capacity to deal
with 4,000 tonnes per day.
Source - The Irish Times
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