Writes Ciaran Dineen
A different story but a case of déjá vu for the people of Ringaskiddy, along with those interested in the long-running history between the town and incinerator use. On this occasion the issue of incinerators does not arise with relation to the ongoing and infamous Indaver application, but instead a recent planning permission submission from Novartis.
The pharmaceutical company have applied to Cork County Council for permission to use their own incinerators to burn additional waste material from other industrial facilities around the country. This has drawn criticism from residents in the harbour area, with many worried that a successful application could spell bad news for those invested and involved against the separate Indaver campaign.
Novartis, who almost a year to this date announced that they would be cutting over 300 jobs from their Ringaskiddy site over a 2-year period, have indicated that they are no longer able to generate a critical mass of waste required to power one of their incinerators, due to their scaling-back of activity.
As a result of their reduced ability to produce on-site waste, they have been forced to instead burn fossil fuels in order to generate the necessary heat to maintain operations. However, given that this practice can be more detrimental to the environment, they have requested that the site be given the opportunity to acquire additional material waste from other industrial sites.
In their application Novartis indicate that “the proposed development does not involve fundamental change from the present day on-site operations and will provide a beneficial alternative to the use of fossil fuel on the site.” They also clarified that the request would not result in any intensification of proceedings, with “no new emission points and no exceedance of the capacity thresholds and limits set the in the existing Industrial Emissions license”.
When news of the application caught wind, many residents made their feelings known, with accounts suggesting that some had made submissions to Cork County Council within the necessary period.