|
By Tom Kelly Mayo County Council is to spend £1.8m on upgrading the refuse tiphead at Derrinumera, Newport. . .even through the facility could be closed down within three years. Mr. Joe Beirne, county engineer, said they were left with no option but to carry out the work because of new licensing regulations being imposed by the Environmental Protect Agency. The money will be spent on transforming the site into a modern land-fill which meets E.U. standards. A weigh bridge is to be provided at the location while a graduate engineer will be appointed to ensure the facility is maintained to the highest standards. The existing right of way to the dump has been extinguished and arrangements are being made for an alternative access. Mr. Beirne said offal and other materials of that nature would no longer be accepted at the site. He added Mayo County Council was obliged to apply for a licence before March 1st, 1998. Work has commenced on the details of the licence application and this will take some months to complete. Mr. Alex Fleming, assistant county manager, said he could not give a detailed account of the proposed work until full agreement was reached with the Environmental Protection Agency. He was responding to a motion by Senator Frank Chambers asking for an outline of the programme of works required in order to qualify for a licence. Mr. John Flannery said the council could not justify spending such a big amount of money on the Derrinumera site. They would be better employed purchasing an area of waste ground for the development of a proper land-fill site. "We have no policy regarding the dumping of waste. We are going about it in an ad hoc fashion. "We closed down the dump in Charlestown and now we have no dump at all in East Mayo." Martin J. O'Toole said there needed to be a broad plan for the county, not just in respect of the dump at Derrinumera. Senator Paddy Burke said he did not see the need for a weigh bridge at the location in question. Mr. Pat McHugh stated Derrinumera Dump has a limited shelf life and he agreed something had to be done. Mr. Des Mahon, county manager, said not a penny would be spent unless every member of the council was happen. But he made it clear the authority faced a big problem in regard to the provision of a modern land-fill site as well as rehabilitating the existing ones. |
