|
The Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) is re-examining
its report endorsing Dublin City Council’s controversial plan
for a municipal waste incinerator on the Poolbeg peninsula,
after admitting that it contains a number of errors.
However, Prof Richard Tol, senior environmental specialist
with the institute, denied that the report
- An Economic Approach to Municipal Waste Management Policy
in Ireland - was being “withdrawn” - as reported
in a Sunday newspaper.
When the report was published last week, Prof Tol said the
ESRI had been made aware of a number of errors in it. “We
are investigating these and assessing what they mean for the
main conclusions - but, so far, we haven’t found anything
shocking.”
He said Dr Dominic Hogg, of British consultants Eunomia,
who had carried out an international review of best waste
management practice commissioned by Minister for the Environment
John Gormley, was to write a letter outlining “further errors”.
“As soon as we have examined these claims, we will issue
a statement,” Prof Tol told The Irish Times. “We
are are in the middle of doing this, so it’s premature to
say what the outcome will be - but we will probably issue
an erratum or amendment.”
One of the acknowledged errors in the report was its statement
that emissions from the Poolbeg incinerator would be covered
by the European Emissions Trading Scheme. While admitting
that this was wrong, Prof Tol said the ESRI “fully stands
by the conclusions” of its report, which found that there
was “no underlying rationale” for the Minister’s strategy
to put incineration at a disadvantage to other waste treatment
methods.
On RTÉ’s The Week in Politics, Mr Gormley said Dublin
City Council had “gone about this in a very slapdash way”
and had used the ESRI in an effort to “undermine the international
review which I commissioned”.
He added - “The fact is that the ESRI review has now been
found to be deficient.” If the council or Covanta wanted to
talk to him, “my door is open. Indeed, if the ESRI want to
come into me and talk about how their report has been misleading
and not based on the facts - again, my door is open.”
Brendan Keane, spokesman for the Irish Waste Management Association
(IWMA), which opposes the Poolbeg project, said it was “inconsequential
whether the ESRI report is being withdrawn or re-examined”
because its findings had been “seriously undermined”.
When the report was published last week, the association
highlighted errors - 'The IWMA believes that the report
is fundamentally flawed and that the ESRI has serious questions
to answer about the data used in this report'.
It called for the 'complete cessation of works' at
Poolbeg to allow for a 'thorough examination of all aspects
of the project - including the terms of the contract, the
size of the facility and the extraordinary level of monies
that have been spent so far'.
Mr Gormley is to appoint an 'authorised officer' to
examine the September 2007 contract between Dublin City Council
and its partners in the project - Covanta Energy, from the
US and Dong Energy, from Denmark.
Source - The Irish Times
|
