‘Farmers pay levy on plastics to find it is being stacked 90ft high’

A Cork County Council divisional committee recently heard from angry councillors who claim black plastics are not being disposed of and are now a size ‘that would cover a number of GAA pitches’ on a Co Kerry site

THE farming community in West Cork is up in arms because a plastic collection service they are subscribing to is being handled in a manner that local councillors claim is environmentally dangerous.

That allegation was made by numerous councillors, some of whom are farmers, at a meeting of Cork County Council’s Western Divisional Committee.

Cllr Kevin Murphy (FG) said farmers are being ‘hammered at the moment with every type of regulation known to man’ yet when they try to dispose of the black plastic, used for baling silage, in a responsible manner, they have been told it is filling up a quarry in Killorglin in Kerry.

The problem with this, Cllr Murphy stated at the meeting, is that harmful by-products could contaminate local groundwater, and the 80ft to 90ft pile of plastic is now a fire hazard. Should it go on fire, Cllr Murphy said the health and safety risks of burning plastic to people living in that area would be enormous.

When the issue was raised at a previous meeting in May, Cllr Murphy asked Cork County Council officials to write to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Kerry County Council.

Cork County Council’s environment director Louis Duffy gave an undertaking at the recent meeting to speak to the EPA and his counterpart in Co Kerry. But Mr Murphy said Cork County Council should write to the EPA and ask it to account for its stewardship.

‘Farmers are paying for the removal of their plastics and it is not being disposed of properly. The leakage from that plastic has to be going somewhere, possibly into local wells?’ he surmised.

Cllr John O’Sullivan (FG), who is also a farmer, agreed ‘farmers have been battered over the environment but this is a scheme they are contributing to.

‘They are paying a levy on farm plastics and then they find it is being stacked 90ft high. The size would cover a number of GAA pitches,’ he added.

‘It is frustrating for members of the farming community. They thought they were leading an environment initiative and now they find it has become a source of danger.

‘What if it went on fire?’ he asked, ‘because there is petroleum in it.’

It’s a problem, not just for the people of Kerry, but the five other holding sites in this country.

‘They are a timebomb as far as I am concerned,’ said Cllr O’Sullivan.

‘Farmers, co-operatives, merchants – everyone thought they were involved in a recycling scheme and they were proud of it. Someone has to be called out on this because it is just not good enough,’ he concluded.

‘If we did this on our land we would face the full rigours of the law,’ said Cllr Declan Hurley (Ind) who is also a farmer.

‘But in this situation no one seems to be taking any notice of it. The companies that are being paid to collect the waste are allowed to do what they want. All farmers are asking for is balance and fairness. The issue is dragging on. It is an environmental issue that needs to be addressed,’ said Cllr Hurley.

‘The site you are describing is outside of our jurisdiction,’ the environmental director Louis Duffy told the councillors. However, he did agree to follow it up with the EPA, Cork County Council’s own regional waste enforcement officer, and his counterpart in Kerry.

Mr Duffy also gave an undertaking to highlight the fire risk with the environmental director in Co Kerry.

The Southern Star asked both the EPA and Kerry County Council for a comment before going to press.

In a statement the Environmental Protection Agency said it had received no notification of this issue from either Cork County Council or Kerry County Council.

‘Local authorities play a vital role in protecting the environment and they are responsible for enforcing much of our environmental legislation and this activity is one which would fall under their remit.

‘The Environmental Protection Agency has a supervisory role in relation to the performance by local authorities of their statutory environmental protection duties.

‘When an environmental issue is reported to a local council, they should investigate the matter and take the appropriate action to address it.

‘If the local council has not addressed the problem in a reasonable period, or if there is not satisfaction that the problem has been properly investigated, a complaint may be lodged with the EPA. It said that details on how to make a formal complaint are on the EPA website at www.epa.ie.