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Draft decision by EPA to grant waste licence for the Waste to Energy Plant at Poolbeg

Waste to Energy Plant at Poolbeg is granted permission by an Bord Pleanála

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Public Involvement

Community Interest Group

The CIG was a voluntary process, which was proposed to provide information about the proposed development to local residents. The CIG meetings raised almost 200 separate concerns that the community had about the project and the group produced a report. All the issues raised by the group were taken into account during the baseline monitoring programme.

Members of the community put themselves forward for the CIG because they believe that the community has the right to be informed about what is being proposed in their area. Being a member of the CIG is not indicative of support for the proposal to build a thermal treatment plant in Poolbeg but indicates a desire to:

Members of the Community Interest Group were chosen by an Independent Selection Committee that was made up of a local Primary School Principal, Mary Price, a Local Community Garda Kevin Byrne and Dr. Jim Wilson from Trinity College.

Terms of reference for the community interest group

The role of the CIG was to:

CIG Membership

All members of the Community Interest Group participate on a voluntary basis and have been selected because they are able to reflect the interests or concern of one or more key sectors in the community. CIG members do not formally represent any organisation or sector but have volunteered to serve on the CIG to reflect their experience and interest in the area.

Selection of CIG by Dr. James G. Wilson, member of the Independent Selection Committee

The CIG was selected from the applications received following the Open Day in Ringsend Clanna Gael Fontenoy GAA Club and other promotions to distribute the forms around the areas that might be involved. The CIG selection panel was invited to comment on the process and the feeling of the panel was that all reasonable efforts had been made to notify the public of the process.

The brief of the selection panel was to make certain that, as far as was practicable, the CIG included the experience, knowledge and awareness to be able to evaluate the scoping process and ensure that nothing was omitted or glossed-over. The panel looked at other examples of CIG's and talked with an expert with previous experience of such processes. Arising out of these researches, the following categories, were set-up:

Life-style etc

Involvement

Expertise

The panel was consulted as to the CIG Application form that had to be filled in, again to try to make sure that enough information was provided without being too intrusive or long-winded.

A total of 43 forms were returned. Each member of the CIG selection panel received a copy of the forms and each worked independently to assign the replies under the above categories.

The panel then met to decide the final composition of the CIG. The aim was to maximise coverage of the above, so each individual application was looked at for what they might bring to the process. Inevitably, there were overlaps, for instance as regards residence, since most respondents lived locally, while other categories e.g. Planning/ Legal were less well represented. The final list of 18 was, in the opinion of the panel, the optimum balance, with some individuals contributing in several categories.

No attempt was made in the process to reflect demographic or other distributions: the deliberate choice was to provide as wide a range as possible from the responses. Some respondents expressed very strong views on the development. However as this was not a criterion for selection, these views did not count either for or against in the allocation.

The CIG selection panel was convened solely for the purpose of providing a list of nominees to the CIG and has no further part in the process

Community Interest Group Meetings

Meetings are open to the public and media, however questions or comments from visitors are only received if time permits at the end of the meetings, or if the CIG agree as a group that the comments may be necessary for the discussion. As part of their involvement CIG members are encouraged to discuss issues raised at the meetings with friends, neighbors or other interested parties and report their feedback to the group.

The CIG have had seven official meetings and numerous unofficial meetings that the project team did not attend. They have heard from experts from Greenpeace, the World Health Organisation, European Commission, Institute of European Environmental Policy and Coastwatch Ireland to name but a few! The CIG meetings covered such areas as planing, environmental law, ecology, health, air quality, traffic, environmental impact assessment etc. One member of the CIG opted to go on a site visit and went to see the SELCHP facility in London. As part of their evaluation of the decisions taken by Dublin City Council in relation to the provision of a thermal treatment plant for Dublin, the CIG appointed and briefed their own legal team to answer their questions.

The details of the whole CIG process will be in the CIG report, but if you would like to learn about what happened at the meetings - take a look below (MS Word files).

Outcome of the CIG

The Community Interest Group has embarked on a process that has involved a number of official meetings of the group. At the end of that process it is hoped that the outcome will be as follows:

  1. Influencing Scoping
    Through the help of internationally recognised experts the CIG will ensure that all concerns of the community are highlighted in the Terms of Reference for the Developers EIS. This means that the community has the opportunity to directly influence how the Environmental Impact Assessment is carried out.
  2. Being better prepared for the statutory planning process
    Should local residents wish to lodge an objection to the proposed development at the relevant point during the statutory planning process, the group has the means to ensure that they have the best information possible about the proposal. Through the CIG process the community will have the opportunity to become better prepared and more effective.
  3. Informing the wider community
    It is envisaged that the CIG will report their findings and share their knowledge and experiences with the wider community. It will be the prerogative of the group to decide what format they want that report to take but it will mean that the benefits of the CIG process can be shared throughout the community.

All of these outcomes will be of tremendous value to the community.

CIG Report

Record of findings of Ringsend CIG prepared by Mercator Marketing Research on behalf of Ringsend CIG October 2002.

Experts who have spoken to the CIG

The CIG have selected a number of different national and international experts to attend their meeting and to answer their questions on many different issues including planning, legislation health and environmental impacts. The group has also (with the support of Dublin City Council) appointed and briefed a legal team to help them review all of the decisions taken by Dublin City Council to date in relation to the proposed thermal treatment plant.

  1. Dr. Jim Wilson
  2. Karin Dubsky
  3. Frank McDonald
  4. Professor Yvonne Scannell
  5. Dr. Conor Skehan
  6. Hendrick Van der Kamp
  7. Martin Hedermann Robinson
  8. Dr. Paul Johnston
  9. Prof. Dr. Dieter Schrenk
  10. Dr. Andrew Farmer
  11. Donal Mathews and Owen Madden
  12. Denis Fitzgerald

Dr. Jim Wilson

Dr. Wilson is a senior lecturer in Environmental Science at TCD, and has also taught and researched at the Universit�� Pierre & Marie Curie Paris VI in France, the University of Texas at Arlington and the University of South Carolina in the USA.

He has been a member of the Hydrobiology Committee (as it is now) of the Royal Irish Academy since 1983, and has served on the Councils of the Irish Marine Sciences Association (1985-1991)), of the Irish Environmental Sciences Association (1994-1998) and of the Estuarine and Brackish-Waters Sciences Association (1990-1993; 1998-) for whom he is now the Editor of the ECSA Bulletin. He is the organiser of two RIA Seminars: Eutrophication of Irish waters (1995) and The Intertidal Ecosystems (2002).

Dr. Wilson has received both national and international funding for his studies, and a selection or relevant grants is attached.

Karin Dubsky

Karin Dubsky is one of Irelands most recognised environmental campaigners with particular interest in the protection of coastal zones.

Karin is currently head of Coastwatch Europe which is an international network of environmental groups, universities and other educational establishments, who in turn work with local groups and individuals around the coast of Europe. Common aims are: Protection and sustainable use of our coastal resources; and informed public participation in environmental planning and management, including Coastal Zone Management.

Karin qualified as an environmental scientist at Trinity College Dublin and has extensive experience in environmental management and protection both in Ireland and across Europe.

Frank McDonald

Frank McDonald is the Environment Editor at the Irish Times. Author of a number of books on Dublin:

Mr McDonald is well known throughout the country for his articles on environmental issues. He has a knowledge and understanding of environmental policy in both Ireland and Europe. He is also well known for his interest and knowledge of planning issues.

Special Area of expertise

Professor Yvonne Scannell

Professor Yvonne Scannell LL.M. (Cantab.), Ph.D., LL.D. (h.c), F.T.C.D., Barrister lectures in Environmental Law and Policy in the Law School, Trinity College, Dublin. She is a graduate of Trinity College, the University of Cambridge and the Kings Inns, Dublin. She also practices as a consultant in environmental law with Arthur Cox, Solicitors. Professor Scannell has written five books and many articles on Environmental Law. She is a member of the International and European Councils of Environmental Law and a founding member and first chair of the Irish Association of Environmental Lawyers.

Professor Scannell was:

She is currently on the board of directors of the Educational Building Society, Tara Mines Ltd., and Forfas (the National Science and Technology Advisory Body). She is a member of the International Women's Forum.

Special Area of expertise

Dr. Conor Skehan

Conor Skehan specialises in the prediction and evaluation of the impacts of large-scale projects. His companies have prepared Environmental Impact Statements for large industrial, energy, transportation, leisure and other projects in all parts of Ireland. He has also prepared evaluations of EIS's - on behalf of Planning Authorities, Government Departments and Non Governmental Organisations. He has over 15 years experience of Appeals and Inquiries for large-scale projects and is accustomed to leading or working within teams for, such hearings. He lectures extensively on EIA and is responsible for the EPA's Guidelines on Information to be contained in EIS's. He is Managing Director of CAAS Environmental Services Ltd and Environmental Impact Services Ltd. He is also Visiting Fellow at the Dublin Institute of Technology - Faculty of the Built Environment.

He lives on Haddington Road and has a good knowledge of the Ringsend, Irishtown, Sandymount and South Wall area.

Special Area of Expertise

Hendrick Van der Kamp

Hendrik W van der Kamp is a Dutch town planner who started his career in a local authority in the Netherlands but has worked since the early 1980s in Ireland. Initially he worked in the planning department of Cork County Council, subsequently as senior research officer in An Foras Forbartha, and senior inspector in An Bord Pleanala. In 1995 he took up a position as college lecturer in the planning school in University College Dublin. He is currently Head of the Planning and Development Department in DIT Bolton Street where he is responsible for a number of undergraduate and postgraduate courses including the introduction of two new planning courses to provide additional graduates to fill the current need for planners in Ireland. Mr van der Kamp has extensively written articles and delivered papers on the topic of strategic planning in particular in relation to infrastructure projects.

Special Area of Expertise

Martin Hedermann Robinson

Martin Hedermann Robinson is currently a lawyer in the Unit for "Sustainable Resources - consumption and waste" EU Commission, Directorate-General Environment. Mr. Hedermann-Robinson is available to the group under the instruction of Mrs. Margot Walstrom - EU Commissioner for the Environment.

Specialist Area of Expertise

Dr. Paul Johnston

Paul Johnston is the Principal Scientist at the Greenpeace International Research Laboratory at the University of Exeter. He is a toxicologist by training and has long been involved with the registering and chemicals and policy relating to toxins in the environment. He is the author of many submissions to public inquiries, most recently the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution in the UK. He is co-author of the Greenpeace Report Incineration and Human Health - State of Knowledge on the Impacts of Waste Incinerators on Human Health.

Specialist Area of Expertise

Prof. Dr. Dieter Schrenk

Dieter Schrenk is a doctor of Medicine and Professor of Food Chemistry and Environmental Toxicology at the University of Kaiserslautern, Germany. He is a consultant to the World Health Organisation and the German Federal Environmental Agency (EPA) and has lectured extensively on food chemistry and toxicology. He is chairman of the Toxicology Section of the German Society of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology. He is a member of the Sub-Committee on Food Contaminations of the Senate Commission for Food Safety and Member of the Animal Protection Committee

Specialist Area of Expertise

Dr. Andrew Farmer

Dr Farmer is a biologist by training and a Senior Fellow at the Institute for European Environment Policy in London, an independent non-profit research studies institute. He focuses on the development of pollution control policies, both at an EU level and how they are implemented in the Member States. He has, therefore, a broad understanding not only of individual policies (eg on incineration), but also of how these interact with other areas. Dr Farmer's earlier career was as a research scientist, which included research on the impacts of air pollution on the environment. He has worked as a pollution specialist in a UK government agency and has undertaken specific policy review studies on the health impacts of municipal solid waste incineration and how these relate to issues of regulation and public communication. He is currently co-authoring a booklet on MSW incineration for the UK Department of Trade and Industry aimed at local authority elected members in England. Dr Farmer worked for English Nature as its atmospheric pollution specialist and sustainable development co-ordinator; as a Research Assistant at both the University of Wisconsin, USA and Imperial College, University of London; and as a Research Associate at University of Florida, USA.

Specialist Area of Expertise

Donal Mathews and Owen Madden

Engineers responsible for South East Traffic - Dublin City Council

Specialist area of expertise:

Denis Fitzgerald

Expert meteorologist with Met Eireann with a specialist interest in climactic influences on air quality.