Published: Wednesday, 20th January, 2010 5:00pm

Landfill issue must be resolved

Comments (2) | Print | Email

The stand-off between the Cavan Better Waste Management lobby group and Oxigen over the landfill at Corranure has reached a crux. It seems that those involved in the group campaigning to have the landfill closed do not wish to give Oxigen a chance to prove it can manage the facility well. Similarly, Oxigen as a private enterprise, has its own agenda. The company needs a site on which to develop an integrated waste management facility. Waste is big business after all. Oxigen already has a licence to landfill at Corranure, recycling facilities are on site with plans to develop a recycling park and biological treatment facility.

Understandably Cavan County Council wants Oxigen to develop waste management facilities that are properly managed and maintained. The contract with Oxigen in respect of the site also nets much-needed income for the local authority. And the alternative, should Oxigen walk away, the council is responsible for the site and trying to control the odours that the continued biodegrading of the existing landfill will create.

All parties - the residents and lobby group, Oxigen, Cavan County Council and the EPA - need to keep open minds, engage in constructive dialogue and find a way to move forward.

Certainly Oxigen and the local authority made mistakes in the past in relation to Corranure that led to a lack of trust on the part of the lobby group. Perhaps it's time to put the mistakes of the past behind and start the new year with a new resolve.

The bottom line is the country needs landfill facilities, and it needs to move away from landfill as far as that is possible, and to that end facilities such as the biological treatment plant need to be developed. They will divert away from landfill a large part of the waste that is responsible for the offensive odours.

Nobody wants a dump on their doorstep and certainly residents in the vicinity of Corranure deserve the same quality of life as everyone else.

But the landfill exists and needs to be managed to contain the odours. Development at the landfill is needed to improve waste management operations there, divert more waste from landfill and deal with it in an environmentally sound manner.

Oxigen, for its part, has to ensure that it learns from the mistakes of the past and invests all that is necessary in the expertise and facilities to ensure that the landfill, recycling park and biological treatment facility (if approved) are managed and run properly and that residents and businesses nearby don't have to suffer foul odours.

Oxigen has to do all in its power to gain the trust of the community. Perhaps the residents at Corranure can remain open minded in a bid to resolve the situation.