Eco-tourism, Wind and Wave, and Smart Logistics

These were the themes of the Sustainability Conference Hosted by the Dundalk Chamber of Commerce last Tuesday.

The first session covered opportunities for the exploitation of sustainable energy sources in the form of wind and wave. The presentation from Open Hydro was particularly impressive in terms of "big solutions", while the presentation from Cool Power addressed home solutions. The fact that we will very soon able to sell home generated energy back to the ESB was not lost on the Chamber audience.













The second session focused on integrated eco-tourism opportunities in County Louth. The first, by Brendan McSherry, Louth Heritage Officer covered, our amazing bird life; Dundalk bay has the biggest concentration of overwintering birds in the country. Yet the county, unlike every other county on the east coast, has no infrastructure for accessing nature at all! It also outlined the possibility of designating a Geopark in the Cooleys and Gullion comples. The second talk, from James Orr of Castle Espie, made a convincing case for how integrated infrastructure for nature watching can be profitable in itself, not to mention the many spinoffs from such resources. The last presentation in that session described the Marble Arches Geopark in Fermanagh/Cavan, giving a taste of how a Geopark could work in Louth.












The final session dealt with Dundalk's potential as a national logistics hub, much more familiar fare for the assembled be-suited businessmen and women.

More About Rubbish

The Dundalk Democrat had another article about the recent increase in dumping around Dundalk. Said Cllr Seamus Keelan (FF), "The dumping is happening all over the town. It is at the back of housing estates and since Cllr Ian Dooley raised the problem of dumping at Moorland Road, more rubbish has been left there, including a bath."

One of the biggest problems with dumping, particularly in association with waterways, is the effect decaying rubbish and leaching chemicals may have on groundwater. In mid-Louth, the Democrat also reported on "Good news for residents near Whiteriver landfill". According to the story the EPA have said that new by-laws must be introduced to stop increasing volumes of biodegradable waste being dumped in landfills. Otherwise heavy EU fines will be incurred. There have been several problems at this particular landfill site at Philipstown - mostly smells, and local worries about contamination of the water supply. Local people have also called for the wells to be tested for contamination by the Louth County Council.

The impact of rubbish on drinking water, and indeed contamination from septic tanks, is a major and growing problem in Ireland

At a talk given by Eanna Ni Lamhna, President of An Taisce, at the Spirit Store recently, Eanna showed on a map the huge area of Ireland that lacks any kind of municipal sewage system, driven by the huge number of one-off houses. The ground-water has been tested in these areas and it has been found that most testing sites were contaminated: "52 per cent of all EPA monitoring locations showed bacteriological contamination at least once between 2003 and 2005, with 30 per cent of all EPA monitoring locations being grossly contaminated at least once during this period."

The main findings of an EPA study on waste management in Ireland, were:

"The overall generation of municipal waste did not increase appreciably in 2007, in contrast to 2006;
Recycling rates generally remained steady with good progress reported in relation to packaging;
The diversion of very large quantities of food waste from landfill is a priority that must be addressed; and
The level of waste reported in 2007, allied with the need for businesses to reduce costs in 2009, reflects the need for continued support for resource conservation initiatives in relation to waste, water and energy, such as the National Waste Prevention Programme."

Water Water Everywhere Nor Any Drop To Drink

The Meath Chronicle carried a story this week about work being done to study flooding risks in the Fingal East Meath area reported to the Council. According to the story, "The main objectives of the Fingal East Meath Flood Risk Assessment and Management Study are to identify and map the existing and potential future flood hazard risk areas within the study area and build the strategic information base necessary for making informed decisions in relation to managing flood risk." The study will identify areas at a high risk of flooding as well as existing flood defense measures. "This survey started in August last year and is almost complete, with 27 kilometres of river channel assets and 10km of coastal assets being surveyed."

Details of the study can be found here. For those interested in past known flooding events, the Office of Public Works has a website here that maps known flooding events, though it should be noted that only "recorded" flooding events are included; remote areas that are flood-prone may not be included.

Much of County Louth is at significant risk of flooding with major past flooding events in Dundalk, Drogheda and much of the coastal areas in between, as well in the Boyne valley and elsewhere. Part of the reason is that much of this land is reclaimed, particularly around Dundalk, Blackrock, Ballymascanlon, Lurgangreen and Mooretown. With global warming driving the possibility of such extreme weather events, the potential for episodes such as the nationwide episode in August 2008.

One of the impacts of flooding events is that they often contaminate drinking water with sewage, so alcohol may be the only choice!

In the meantime the Irish Examiner reports, "The practice of building houses and other concrete structures on flood plains is destroying Ireland’s natural flood defences, according to one of the country’s leading experts on coastal engineering." (see town planners blog for full story)." The story continues, "If you look at the rainfall patterns over the last 20 years, you will find that there has been a marked change. We are now getting severe bursts of rain rather than precipitation being spread out,” said Dr Jimmy Murphy, coastal engineering manager with the Hydraulics and Maritime Research Centre, University College Cork (UCC)."

More details of the seminar and studies may be found at the UCC web site.

More Rubbish!

This weeks Dundalk Democrat has two pieces on dumping and recycling, the first from Carrickmacross News. This article is an invitation to members of the public to recycle Christmas waste at The Recycling Centre, Scotch Corner - details of other bring centres in the area are here. List of Christmas tree recycling points listed also. Meanwhile the same paper on the same topic carried a report of a recent Town Council meeting where the subject of who is responsible for the disposal of rubbish from rental accommodation came up. Ballybay SF Councillor Gene Duffy asked if skips could be supplied to local residents associations to all for major clean-ups. There was also a reminder to the folk of Tallanstown and surrounding areas about new recycling facility opened on the Springhill Road, Tallanstown.

Perhaps the high level of coverage of rubbish and dumping issues is just a hangover from Christmas, or more worryingly, perhaps it is an early indication of people responding to the recession by saving on rubbish disposal costs?

An Taisce branded "murders", "terrorists", by enraged Councillors

In a riveting story in the Meath Chronicle , Meath Councillors have branded An Taisce, The National Trust for Ireland, as "murders", "terrorists", "robbers" following the decision by An Bord Pleanala, to refuse planning permission for a business park at Kilbride. According to the story: "Robin Rennicks was granted planning permission by Meath County Council for phase one of a business park on lands at Belgree, Kilbride, Clonee, last June. Councillors had agreed to materially contravene the Meath County Development Plan, allowing the development on lands previously unzoned for such a project. An Taisce, along with a number of local objectors, appealed the council’s decision to the planning appeals board, Bord Pleanala, which last week overturned the decision of the Meath planning authority."

Under Part 8 of the Local Government Act , County Councillors can change the County Development Plan so that , for example, land zoned as agricultural can be rezoned for industry. However An Taisce and local residents objected to the rezoning on the grounds that it was outwith regional planning guidelines, was not near any growth centre or transportation corridor, unserviced with inadequate sewerage capacity. An Bord Pleanala agreed and refused permission on the 13th January 2009. In refusing the application the inspectors report states in essence that the development is "contrary to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area".

The article continues: "Ian Lumley, An Taisce’s heritage officer, this week rejected the criticisms of the Meath councillors, saying that there was more than enough zoned land for industrial development in Navan, Dunboyne, Drogheda environs, Ashbourne and along the new railway corridor. “These locations have all been identified and the development plan reflects that,” he says. “Material contraventions are back-door rezonings for landowners,” he added.

Dundalk Chamber of Commerce Sustainability Conference

In a story covered in the Argus and the other papers, the Dundalk Chamber of Commerce is running a conference entitled Sustainable Jobs in Dundalk and Beyond (links to programme from Heritage Council web site: 2.8 M download). According to Chamber CEO Bill Tosh: "We have put together a full programme. We're clearly setting out our stall to claim this region's leadership in sustainables, with the launch of the National Centre of Excellence by Minister Eamonn Ryan. We are also pinning our hopes that our heritage, unspoiled as it is, along with logistics will be two of our strongest sectoral suites for economic development."

Abstracted from the programme

The conference will take place on Tuesday February 10th 2009 at the Crowne Plaza. A place at the conference costs € 100, to book a place call Fiona at (042) 9336343 or e-mail fiona@dundalk.ie.

Sustainability in the context of sustainable development is an increasingly urgent objective of County Louth and one which is now mandated by EU law: "
"Article 174 of the Treaty provides that Community policy on the environment is to contribute to, inter alia, the preservation, protection and improvement of the quality of the environment, the protection of human health and the prudent and rational utilisation of natural resources and that it is to be based on the precautionary principle. Article 6 of the Treaty provides that environmental protection requirements are to be integrated into the definition of Community policies and activities, in particular with a view to promoting sustainable development."

"Sea of Filth"

FG Councillor Anne Dillon-Gallagher has complained of a major dumping episode near the recycling centre at Mell in a report in the Drogheda Independent. According to the article, "Cllr Dillon-Gallagher said we must consider the cost, not just in monetary terms but also to the environment.
'We have to get across to the public that it is their civic duty to report this illegal activity to the environment section of the council,' she said."

In a similar story in the Dundalk Democrat, SF Councillor Ian Dooley has highlighted the same issue. According to the piece, "people who witness or know of illegal dumping to contact the litter hotline on (free phone) 1800 20 26 06."

Perhaps the apparent recent increase in illegal dumping is due to the economic downturn, however there can be no excuse. The impact of a single bag of domestic waste in terms of clean-up and longer term impact on the environment, especially if waterways are affected, is inestimable. Some materials such as plastic can persist in the environment for hundreds of years - in fact it is estimated that every piece of plastic ever manufactured is still in existence, much of it in the sea, barring what was incinerated. Food waste attracts rats that bring diseases such as Weil's disease. Other waste is toxic and may contaminate ground water. But most of all rubbish is unsightly and offensive.

It is an offence to dump any kind of waste and waste is very broadly defined under the Waste Management Act eg "Products for which the holder has no further use." Penalties range up to 10 million Euro fines and 10 years in jail.

Any dumping episode can also be reported to the EPA on 1850 365 121 where callers can give information anonymously to a trained operator 24-hours a day. All of these calls are followed up by the Gardai, EPA and local authoraties.