Agenda and draft minutes

Order: Agreed

The Chairperson advised the Committee that he has written to the Waste Operators

to present at this meeting and a number of responses were received which were

circulated to the members.

The Operators are not in a position to attend the meeting but Greyhound recycling

offered to meet the Chair.

Order: Noted

None.

None.

Order: Agreed

Order: Defer to September meeting.

Mr. DickBrady,AssistantChief Executivereferredto the reportthatwas circulated and made the following points.

·        On 7^th into 8^th Junethere was anincident at thefacility involving limeleakage

·        11individuals weretakentohospital as a precaution

·        The Healthand Safety Authority and theEnvironmentProtection Agency wereinformedofthe incident

·        The processwasshut down in an orderlyfashion after the incident.

·        The HSA issued anotice thatno furtherhotcommissioningcouldtakeplace until investigationsare complete.We are waiting for the HSA to report.

Members raised the following questions / issues

·        When will the hot testing recommence and when will reports issue from the EPA / HSA (CO’M)

·        Has DCC received feedback from the EPA / HSA on what happened (AK)

·        The EPA was previously requested to present to this Committee and this request was declined. The EPA should be asked to attend the next meeting to report on this incident (MM)

·        Will the EPA & HSA as the statutory authorities write separate reports (NO’M)

·        Members should be appraised of correspondence from the EPA / HSA (CC) Mr.

Dick Brady responded:

·        DCC does not know when the EPA / HSA reports will be completed.

·        Separate reports will be written by the EPA/HSA

Order: Report Noted. The Environment Protection Agency and the Health and Safety Authority to be invited to the September meeting to present reports on the June 7th incident and subsequent findings.

(I)                 Dosage rate for PAC during commissioning and operation.

(II)               How much carbon will be utilised during the initial commissioning phase.

(III)             It is proposed to recirculate flue gas residues, what percentage of PAC will be recirculated

(IV)             What type(s) of activated carbon to be used

(V)               Explanation of the differences in levels of Carbon usage between line 1 and line 2.

(VI)             Cost & estimated expenditure on PAC.

(VII)           What are the Industry Norms in relation to PAC usage.

(VIII)         What monitoring & reporting will be in place in relation to PAC.

(IX)             Who will assess and set rate of PAC usage.

The Chair referred to the response that was circulated, albeit with little time for

consideration.

The Assistant Chief Executive requested that any technical questions that Members

may have are submitted in writing.

Members raised the following points / questions:

·        Raising the Newstalk interview in the body of a response to questions raised is muddying the water somewhat and this issue should have been dealt with (by Covanta) under separate cover (AK)

·        Joe McCarthy stated that he was the individual in the Newstalk interview.

·        All his opinions are based on scientific research (JMcC)

·        Communication was not received by him from Mr. Erikson or Covanta(JMcC)

·        There is no further information offered in this report with the exception of a reference to .44kgs of carbon per tonne of waste in the other Irish incinerator. (JMcC)

·        Industry norms found in the BAT reference sets the range between .35kgs –3kgs per tonne depending on the makeup of the waste. (JMcC).

·        Several elements of fact have not been given by Covanta (JMcC)

·        The actual amount of carbon used, this information is to hand, the difference in carbon usage for line 1 & 2 is required (JMcC)

·        100% of the flue gas residue was re-circulated in Poolbeg which is wrong (JMcC)

·        What % will be re-circulated, the reply that it will be set in accordance with BAT is not what the Committee requested, exact figures are required (JMcC).

·        The 100 % recirculation is probably why the flu gas ash burst out of the hopper. I have asked the EPA & HSA to investigate this. (JMcC)

·        The figures on the amounts of carbon used in the plant should be on record.(JMcC)

The Assistant Chief Executive responded.

·        This Committee does not have parliamentary privilege and we must be careful in what is said.

·        Any questions members may have should be submitted in writing and response will be sought from Covanta.

·        Could Mr McCarthy forward the details of his research into Carbon usage.

·        Could Mr McCarthy set out clearly his questions are and set out what he believes to be industry norms.

·        Restated his request for Mr. McCarthy’s references to be submitted for consideration this will help the Committee to understand the points that are being raised.

Order: Figures on how much carbon is being used per tonne on a daily basis, the Percentage of flue gas residue that is being re-circulated & how much carbon has been used to date.

Mr. Dick Brady advised the Committee that this document which has been agreed between Covanta and the EPA is for noting. As the Plan was agreed between the EPA and Covanta the Committee has no influence in relation to what has been agreed.

Members raised the following issues:

·        The document is terrible, it is not possible to search in the format that it is presented, the pagination is different to the index making it hard to read (JMcC)

·        There are 13 emergency response procedures in the plan (JMcC)

·        This is an aspiration document that describes what an emergency response might be. (JMcC)

·        Would like to see the approval granted by the EPA (JMcC)

·        Was the fire brigade called when the lime leak occurred (JMcC)

·        The emergency response procedure was not followed when the lime leak occurred. What was the sequence of events from when the leak occurred

until the individuals concerned presented at St. Vincent’s Hospital. (JMcC)

·        We need to see a practical document to see what the procedure is when an emergency arises (CC)

·        Could we have some details on the cladding on the building (CC)

·        The date on the Emergency Plan is 25th April, is there an explanation why it did not issue to the Committee until 24th June (JMcC)

James Nolan & Dick Brady responded:

·        It is our understanding the Major Emergency plan has been approved as drafted (JN)

·        It is not for DCC to comment on the formatting of documents that have been agreed with a statutory body (JN)

·        There is currently a HSA investigation in relation to the incident on 7th / 8th

            June (DB)

·        The HSA’s report should cover all aspects of the incident and the incident handling (DB)

·        It would be premature for DCC to make any comment in relation to the incident in advance of the HSA’s report issuing. (DB)

·        The plan was submitted to the EPA on 25th April (JN)

·        The detail in relation to the cladding has been requested and we await a reply. (DB)

Order: Noted. The issues raised to be followed up are , approval from the EPA in relation to Emergency response plan, the HSA’s report, report on the cladding.

JamesNolan updated themembersthat:

·     Responsibilityfor the management ofthewebsitehas transferredto Dublin Waste to EnergyLimited.

·     Thereis an error inthe report,construction phase monitoring reportsarenot on the websitebut weare workingto restorethem.

·     Constructionworkis ongoing but commissioninghas ceased untiltheEPA& HSA completetheir investigations

·     Operationcommencedon1^st Juneand ceasedon 7^th June.The EPA is undertaking areview oftheprocessingofmaterialduring thefirst week.

·     Therehavebeen anumberof submissions to theEPA,one inrelation to the temperaturecalibration, theEPA hasasked for areview ofthis.

·     TheEPA sought an explanation in relationto interruptions atthe facility.

Membersraised the following issues:

·     Informationthat ispublically availableon the EPAportal givesa root cause analysisof 3 events, event3 was the majorone(JMcC)

·     Thecause oftheincident thatresulted in casualties was the release oflime ash from thebottom of the bag housefilter(JM  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

Mr. Vincent advised the committee that the Community Gain Liaison Committee agreed to furnish details of grants awarded as set out in the report that was circulated.

Order: Report Noted.

Gerry O’Connell, Engineer in charge, Flood Defence Unit, presented to the Committee on the Draft River Basement Management Plan 2018-2021 and outlined the purpose of the plan and made the following points:

·        Bring rivers, lakes & tidalestuaries toa goodecological status

·        Address pressureson Water Quality

·        There will be significant public consultation

·        Despite significant investmentthereis stillsome way to go to achievea good ecological status

·        45% of rivers & 55% of lakes areless than good status

·        Pressures onachieving good status includeAgriculture, Forestry,and Industry etc.

·        The quality in Ireland iscomparable withotherEUmembers

·        It is hoped thatthe RBMP will beadoptedby December2017.

Theroleofthe Local Authority(DCC)is:

·        Coordinatedelivery of measuresat regional and local level

·        Tracking progressand effectivenessofmeasures

·        Annual reportingof progress

·        Ensuring public and stakeholderengagement in implementation

·        Integrated approach acrossfunctional areas

·        Supporting national policydevelopment and implementation

Gerry further explained:

·        Gerry’sofficewill bemaking submissions on the plan.

·        7 riversarein DCC’s administrative areawithmostbeing of moderateto poor status

·        Most ofthe coastalareas in DCC’s area are ofgoodstatus.

·        Estuariesareofmoderatestatus

·        Ground waters are ofgood  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

Cllr O’Moore queried if any measures have been explored to avoid / reduce the risk of the flooding on the Clontarf Road.

Gerry O’Connell advised that meetings will be held with the Parks Department to explore options to reduce the risk of flooding.

Order: Report Noted

Dr. Gerry Wardell gavea verbal updateto the Committeeon the progress ofthe ClimateChange Strategyfor Dublin

·        TheStrategywill coverthe 4 DublinLocal Authorities

·        Thestrategywasagreedby the SPC and theCityCouncil in 2016.

·        4ActionPlans are currentlybeing developed

·        CODEMA hasrecruited an additional 3 staff to assist the action plan preparation

·        LocalAuthoritystafffromthe various disciplines in partnership withCODEMA is developingactions that are currentlybeing carriedout.

·        Thetechnical staff forthe4 DLA’sarehaving a workshop (tomorrow) to share expertise and identifygaps. A furtherworkshopwill beheld in September.

·        Thestaffin Dublin CityCouncil areputtingin a huge effort.

·        A skeletonaction plan should be readyforthe November SPC.

·        A jointmeetingof the4 DLA’s EnvironmentSPC is to be held

Order:Report Noted.

Councillor O’Moore raised the issue of the introduction of the pay by weight waste charges and made the following points:

·        The previous government committed to introducing a waiver scheme for low income families/ families with disabilities – This did not happen

·        The Minister does have the authority to set prices as the industry has been privatised

·        We need to see a reduction in waste produced by industry

·        Elderly people are being forced by waste operators to conduct their business on line.

·        Something will have to be done such as a waiver for those on medical cards.

Order: Noted