John Whelan (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise with the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government a shocking matter of grave concern. In fact, it is the most serious matter that has ever come to my attention. I am not raising it lightly and it is causing me serious distress and anxiety. I ask the Minister to immediately call to task the Environmental Protection Agency over its lax oversight and light touch regulation of the ongoing and long-running unlicensed, unregulated, potentially harmful and hazardous open-vent emissions from the Enva waste oil recycling plant in Portlaoise. This is happening despite a litany of public complaints dating back over 15 years.

I have irrefutable, irrevocable, empirical, documented and scientifically established evidence that this plant, which processes 20,000 tonnes of waste oil annually, is pumping hazardous and harmful emissions into the atmosphere in direct and total breach of its licence and regulations. I am absolutely certain that the Environmental Protection Agency is privy to this situation and is aware of it. In fact, the EPA is colluding with the company in what is a cover-up of what in some instances are carcinogenic emissions going into the atmosphere and wastewater in the vicinity.

People in the Portlaoise area, including residents and workers in nearby plants, are unnecessarily being exposed to hazardous emissions. They should not have to be in this position. If we have a watchdog we should be able to rely on it. What is the point in having a watchdog if it does not bark, much less bite? I believe it is the corporate culture of the EPA to work hand in hand with corporate elements and industry rather than putting the public interest and public health first and foremost.

A litany of documentation proves a series of non-compliance. The people who have come forward have been fobbed off and categorised as cranks, while a blind eye has been turned to what is going on. This is an Erin Brockovich scenario where people are living in silent fear and do not know what to do. It is our duty and responsibility as public representatives to ensure that this is not allowed to continue any further.

I have documentary proof that the harmful and hazardous emissions, some of which are carcinogens, from the Enva Ireland plant in Portlaoise measure up to 32 times and in some instances up to 1,000 times more than the accepted levels as set down by the Environmental Protection Agency and other authorities. This matter was brought to my attention in the past two months. I have gone to lengths to verify this information and ensure it stands up. I have a litany of paperwork and documentation, including letters from Irish Rail management at the sleeper factory in Portlaoise. They wrote on behalf of the workers to Enva and the EPA imploring them to do something because the workers were repeatedly complaining of nausea and headaches. I hope that is the full extent of the problem being created by these harmful emissions because chemicals such as benzene are being pumped into the sky within 100 m of homes where people are living, including elderly people and young children. These open-vent emissions should be brought to a halt immediately. I am calling on Enva to clean up its act and on the EPA to do its job. This is another example of the watchdog falling asleep at the wheel. We have seen it in financial services and the charities sector and now we have it in the environmental sector. The EPA should do its job and protect the public health and the public interest.