Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
RINGSEND LOCALS MET the news that 11 staff were hospitalised at the Poolbeg incinerator this afternoon with a mixture of concern and anger.
Protesters told TheJournal.ie they had been worried about an incident such as this since plans to introduce the waste centre were drawn up over 20 years ago.
The 11 staff members were taken to hospital after what is being described as an ‘uncontrolled release’ of lime within the plant in Dublin.
Nine people have since been released, and two remain in hospital.
The company has claimed that the incident had no impact outside the plant. Inspectors from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Health & Safety Authority are at the scene earlier today.
While the anger in the local area was palpable, one emotion people weren’t expressing was shock. For some of the people we spoke to, it vindicated their concerns over the plant. Others expressed concern about the health of all of the staff members, many of whom are locals.
Damien Cassidy, Chairman of the Ringsend Local Environment Group, said he has been campaigning against the development of the incinerator for the last 10 years. He said he hopes all staff make a quick recovery but warned that he fears there will be more accidents at the facility.
Speaking to TheJournal.ie, Cassidy said: ” The situation is that they have put it here where there are existing houses and beyond the chimney they plan to build over 400 apartments in the near future.
There will be children and old folk. We need clean air. We do not need accidents of any description. I’m not a bit surprised by this.
“The place is built. You have to take it from there.”
Around the corner in Ringsend village, many residents said they were furious about what had happened.
Disgusted
Marie Walsh, who has lived in Ringsend for over 30 years, said she was “disgusted” to hear what had happened to the workers.
She said: “They should be ashamed of themselves. I’m disgusted by it all now. Everyone has been saying how worried they are about this thing going up. We don’t know what’s coming into the air. You had every Tom, Dick and Harry saying it was going to be safe. Now, there’s 11 people in the hospital. It’s not too safe-looking now.”
A spokesperson for Covanta, the company that runs the plant, said that late last night “a small amount of lime was inadvertently released inside the flue gas treatment area” during the commissioning and testing of the plant.
“At the time, there were a number of workers in an adjacent area,” it said.
As a precaution, eleven workers were sent to St Vincent’s Hospital nearby for medical evaluation. Two were detained overnight.
It’s understood that no ambulances were called, but the exact condition of the workers is not known.
Brendan Somers has recently moved to the area with his wife and three children. He said he knew that the incinerator was in the area but said he was sure that nothing would happen.
“For me, I thought that because there was so much talking about it that there would be more safety. I hope the workers are all okay. Hopefully, something like this is unusual and doesn’t happen again,” he said.
Controversy
The controversial incinerator – which is located close to the iconic Poolbeg chimneys at the mouth of the Liffey – only started burning waste a week ago.
The project was first proposed two decades ago – but was held up for years before construction work finally commenced in 2014.
The Health & Safety Authority was notified at 6am this morning and investigators are currently on site. The incident is being described as a ‘dangerous occurrence’, which means a serious event that may have consequences to human health or the environment.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s inspectors are also examining whether the release had any impact outside the plant.
Covanta said the lime was contained within the building and did not escape into the environment, and the incident had “no impact whatsoever” outside the plant.
It went on to say: “The safety of our employees and contractors is of utmost importance to Covanta and we are investigating the incident thoroughly.”
With reporting by Gráinne Ní Aodha.
Drone footage provided by Skyscraper Aerials www.skyscraperaerials.com
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Be great if we could leave the plant where it is and move these pain in the back side local residents out wouldn’t it.
@Fred Jensen: If they hadn’t complained about the height of the sea wall they probably wouldn’t be able to see it.
@8bitplebian: Err that was Clontarf ,the other side of the city entirely .
@Fred Jensen: That’s actually a good idea, Fred. Forcefully remove the objecting locals into greener, healthier accommodation and forcefully relocate the owners, developers and supporters right beside this development. You up for moving? Or do you only speak out of the side of your mouth. The simple fact is you don’t know these people and don’t fully understand their concerns other than what the media feeds you. Yet you love to get up on your high horse and dictate how others should or should not live, how they should or should not think and how they should or should not act. What a delightful, spoilt boy you are.
@Brian Ó Dálaigh: I would say he is just an old crank.
@Fred Jensen: Maybe we can move you off thejournal @Fred ??
@cortisola:
Ah now don’t hurt my feelings Mr Anonymous person on the internet.
@Brian Ó Dálaigh: I’m pretty sure he was being Hughmorris
Look out your windows, you muppets. See those apparently horseless carriages? They run by burning refined petroleum! And you know that thing in the middle of your sitting room called a “chimbley-pot”? You won’t believe what that does!
@8bitplebian: proper desk chuckle to that
@8bitplebian: Yeah – there are new things we don’t like but we have to learn to live with them – car accidents, air pollution, genetically modified food, Islamic terrorism, etc…
@8bitplebian: what’s that got to do with Clontarf ? Don’t get lost on your way back to replying now
@Nucky: you’re the only one that mentioned Clontarf, you dolt.
@Conor Hall: am I ? Yea why not leave the grownup talk to the grownups like a good lad
@Jeff Hunter: a desk chuckle? What’s that ? A Pam and five sisters special under the counter!
Locals don’t care about accidents they just don’t want to have it beside them. I wonder have any of the locals thought about where all their waste goes and how we deal with it? If we recycled properly and serrated our waste like the rest of Europe we would have less demand for incinerators
@Colin Hunt: these are the same types of people who complain about having to go through their rubbish when they are told to recycle more.
We really need to copy the Germans when it comes to recycling
@Barry Somers: I do wonder whether any of you would want a giant incinerator in your area?
But this main issue which is Wider than mere nimbyism is the fact that the area is prime coastal real estate beneath the flight path for arriving planes.
Would any other city in the world destroy their own skyline with such ugliness? With smoke stacks and industrial wasteland ? Would they do it in Sydney?
Of course they wouldnt. It’s a disgrace this thing is there.
@Stephen Adam: the area is industrial is it not?
Complaining about how it looks is like complaining about a crane at a port. If you don’t like industrial areas then please don’t live near them.
Its amusing to claim it ruins the skylines when the area already has two much bigger smoke stacks not far from it. So I’m sorry that doesn’t make sense as an argument,
If you want a clear skyline perhaps we should knock the much bigger smoke stacks beside this facility first? I’m guessing loads of people will object to this though…ironically.
Not sure why flightpaths have to do with it either?
People flying into Dublin don’t know the history behind poolbeg smoke stacks, so they are far more of a eye sore.
Also this facility doesn’t create plumes of dark smoke or anything like that. If you think it does then you clearly have no clear understanding of how the facility will actually work.
@Barry Somers: the entire area is an eyesore. All of the smoke stacks and industrial towers. But while the old ones are now out of use and arguably destined for scrapping, were actually going out and allowing new ones to be built?
The flight path is important because it’s the city and the countrys welcome mat. It’s the first thing tourists see. And it’s ugly.
I have no problem with the tall smoke stacks being demolished (or incorporated into an iconic architectural development – if properly cleaned/painted) but the entire area should be re developed as high density commercial.
Eye sores like that shouldn’t be allowed at the gateway to the city.
@Stephen Adam: What the hell are you on about. It’s a small plant. When you look at it from the costal you could cover it with your thumb it’s that small. No one could give a shit that it’s there. Residents are making a mountain out of a mole hill. Like the clowns that complained about the tunnel there houses. Get used to it, we need to become for self developed. Shipping out waste off to God knows where to be treated God knows how isn’t.
@Stephen Adam: lol – “flight path”.
@Stephen Adam: seriously Stephen this is just silly.
Fly into pretty much every city in the world and you see industrial complexes far far bigger then anything you’ll see in Dublin. This facility is just a tiny spec from the sky compared to other things you’ll see flying into Dublin.
Now lets look at what you can see from the air flying into Dublin shall we:
- Topez Oil Storage – A massive footprint from the sky compared to this facility.
- All those shipping containers and ships, ugghhh just ugly. Lets get rid of them.
Do you see how silly your argument is now? :)
The new facility is tiny compared to Poolbeg. But as it is people don’t want poolbeg knocked down. They want it kept as they think it looks nice and its historic.
The new facility is pretty nicely build, its in an appropriate area (industrial).
@Colin Hunt: An incinerator isn’t some big burning barrel of waste. It’s a state on the art facility with the best of modern technology for the most sustainable disposal of waste which generates electricity. No matter what, you can’t recycle everything. There will always be waste that needs to be landfilled, or incinerated.
Due to the infrastructural layout of Dublin, the incinerator has to be here. Every sewer in Dublin falls to Poolbeg. It would take tens of billions to have it fall elsewhere. This incinerator can safely and environmentally dispose of the solid wastes from the waste treatment plant.
In all, it has to be here. Dublin needs an incinerator.
@Old Gordon: Clearly it isn’t state of the art if there’s been a significant accident already. Tome someone was held accountable – in this case maybe the city manager who rammed this through against the objections of the elected councillors.
@Barry Somers: I made it pretty clear Barry – the entire area is the problem not just the incinerator. Cranes, poolbeg and all the rest of the industrial wasteland.
@Tony Murray: Well Tony, let’s have the HSA investigate before we jump to conclusions. This incident is probably more due to the works rather than the operation of the facility.
@Tony Murray: state of the art technology is some sort of magic fairy dust, stuff can go wrong.
Stuff can go wrong with any modern tech, but that doesn’t mean you should complete disregard the technology.
For all of the claims the residents claim to have here, they’d have no problem with this facility being located next to someone else. As it is it is located in a industrial area…which is the appropriate location.
@Barry Somers: And Ringsend is a totally inappropriate location for and industrial zone.
@Tony. Have you been hanging around the exit vents?
A significant accident? A door seal was the issue, no ambulances were called and they drove themselves to hospital as a precaution.
So please put the phone down and relax.
@Stephen Adam: Funny how the Danes can work it out. 50 percent of all household waste is burned there and yes there is one smack right in the middle of Copenhagen. Never had any issues and Its first plant was commissioned in 1903.. But hey, better late than never.
But honestly educate yourself a bit before commenting.
Why a second article about this? And why quote clueless locals that have no idea what happened? There was never a risk to the environment or the wider public. There was barely even a risk to the majority that got checked out. How do I know? I was there.
@Keith Fealy: …and why the fake report that 11 were hospitalised? Were 11 not checked as a precaution with 9 released immediately?
Locals don’t give a shit about staff rather just the whole thing because its in their area.
Workplace accidents happen all the time, move on.
@Paul: Chernobyl is great example, just industrial workplace accident, nothing to worry abut…
@Paul: easy to say when it’s not in your area Good lad .
Would there be that much coverage if this happened down the country?for once the Dubs have to get rid of their own waste and they’re complaining about it
Yer man looks like a right curtain twitcher and general know it all. Retired people with too much time and access to the Internet can be a dangerous thing.
@Jamie: Who’s complaining – “the man with two pints”? I live in Dublin. I’m not complaining, I’m applauding the reasonable voices who see the need for one and have balanced views. If it comes to that, we could be recycling a lot more, instead of exporting everything to be sold back to us.
Clontarf locals want to know if the Incinerator would be suitable for housing the 13 homeless families that are due to take up residence in St Lawrences Rd? Would the Ringsend locals object to that? Shower of NIMBYs
@Virtual Donal: we’re all NIMBYs.
A whole bunch a disgruntled locals who didn’t get paid off, discuusing something they know nothing about!..This is a storm in a tea cup!!..Move on!!
An incident blown out of proportion!!and the locals are delighted.
“Around the corner in Ringsend village”, no it’s not!! Incinerator is a km away at least!!
Fuggin big nimby head on him
They should not have built it there in the first place!
Why not?
” Dangerous occurrence” two people still in hospital, may have consequences to human health or environment, it also started to burn waste only a week ago, yet most comments on this article are treating it in a very cavalier manner.
@Catherine Mc: it’s just lime, enough of it blows across the fields when farmers are putting it out on the fields, and guess what, to date there has been no mass public health warnings issued or casualties. No mention of it being quicklime which is caustic but still, short term exposure won’t be lethal.
@Derek:
Maybe so, but it still has to be treated seriously, I would prefer to be told by health and safety that everything is ok, not by some smart asses writing here( I don’t mean you).
No story here just media hype
Plus what about all the extra ambulances collecting patents at the site bound to have an impact on the locals quality of life.
@Dave Hogan: no ambulances were called, but if they were… #whyioughta #nimby
@Dave Hogan: Not one ambulance attended the site. There wasn’t a need for one.
They only went to hospital as a procaution.
Damien looks like great craig!
@Keith Byrne: failed! *craic
And excess packaging and minimal recycling makes the situation so much worse
.
have your say