Waste incinerator plan to be challenged

Opponents of a north Monaghan incinerator will make submissions to An Bord Pleanala at a public hearing in Monaghan town on Tuesday, June 27th.

The hearing was arranged by the planning board because of an appeal by Monopower Ltd against a decision by the council to grant planning permission for the heat and power plant at Killycarran near Emyvale.
Monopower Ltd, owned by Aiden and Maurice McCarron, want to build a 22.5 megawatt biomass plant in Emyvale, Co. Monaghan.
The plant would account for poultry litter, mushroom waste and willow from Monaghan, Cavan, Tyrone and Fermanagh. It is thought that incineration would be used to change the waste to electricity.

Residents and farmers are fearful that incineration could affect their health and local industries. The local authority did not give planning permission as there was not enough evidence to show that the plant would not affect public health.
Maurice McCarron stated that because the EU is backing the plan, he is hopeful that the biomass plant would go ahead.
“Our basic principle is not to take waste. It is to manufacture electricity. The EU has backed this process. They would not back something that had the potential to be harmful,” he said.

Consultant Jack O’Sullivan said farmers, producers and residents had fears about the plant. He said that people thought the plant could run out of fuel in a few years’ time and that the owners could apply to the local authority to burn other waste.