Dublin City Council Being Stubborn to Save Face on Incinerator
Issued : Tuesday 2 February, 2010
Last night, Labour Cllr. Maria Parodi tabled an emergency motion in the City Council meeting calling on the City Manager to cease the construction of the Incinerator (Waste to Energy Facility) in Poolbeg, and terminate the contract with Dublin Waste to Energy Ltd in light of the recent investigations that confirm that Covanta Energy, one of the companies DCC has the PPP contract with, has been fined on numerous occasions by US regulatory agencies for labour and environmental violations; which, include excessive dioxin/furan emissions.
The City Manager ruled it 'out of order' due to the financial implications of terminating the contract. However, Cllr. Parodi said she “firmly disagrees with the City Manager and officials on that decision, as it should have been debated last night since this facility also has considerable financial risks for the taxpayer due to the ‘put or pay’ clause built into the contract.”
“An independent review of the level of waste that would be available for this Incinerator assuming realistic growth rates and recycling rates was conducted in 2009. It concluded that the actual level of waste produced in the Dublin region that would be available for incineration, will not exceed 300,000 tonnes of waste per annum over the next 25 years. At this rate, it has been estimated that the taxpayer may have to pay up to €18 million in penalties for every year that the incinerator is in operation. This would amount to €450 million over the lifetime of the project.”
Speaking in reaction to the Council’s decision to rule the motion ‘out of order’ Cllr. Parodi said “I think it is appalling that the City Manager is still willing to continue this contract with Covanta Energy, a company who has violated environmental and labour regulations in several of its facilities in the US.”
“DCC has a responsibility to the people of Dublin and the people of Dublin have a right to be assured that Covanta Energy, the company that will be operating the facility will be able to provide a technically superior package which is a requirement of the project agreement. I do not believe they will be able to fulfil that brief given their poor track record in the United States.”
Ends.
Cllr 
