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EPA Enforcement Summary - 2021

The Office of Environmental Enforcement (OEE) continued its work during the year 2021 while also observing the public health restrictions as a result of the Covid pandemic. In the calendar year, 844 licensed Industrial and Waste sites in Ireland were enforced by the OEE. Due to the Covid pandemic, the OEE operated a blended approach to its inspections throughout the year. Data shows that 22% of its inspections were carried out remotely.

A total of 1295 site inspections were carried out at 556 different licensed facilities. This represented a 19% increase in inspections and site inspections from the previous year. Of these 1295 site inspections, there were: 159 Air/Noise Monitoring; 293 Water Sampling; 289 Remote Compliance Assessments; and 554 Enforcement Site Visit inspections carried out by the OEE. 55 site inspections were targeted inspections of suspected unauthorised industrial and waste activities. 48 of these targeted inspections were carried out at alleged unauthorised peat harvesting sites.

There were a number of sites and facilities inspected 10 times or more in 2021. The reasoning for these site inspections were: Complaint Investigations; Noise or Air Monitoring; Water/Effluent Sampling; and Compliance Investigation/Assessment. The sites that were inspected 10 times or more (from highest to lowest) are:

  • Arrow Group;
  • Tipperary Co-operative Creamery Limited;
  • Hermitage Farms Limited (Clifden);
  • Ballymount Bailing Station;
  • Padraig Thornton Waste Disposal Limited;
  • Fenor Pig Farms Limited;
  • Thornton’s Recycling Centre (Ballyfermot);
  • Western Brand Group Unlimited Company

The OEE established a number of priority groups for enforcement for 2021 in order to tackle specific risks and issues at licensed industrial and waste sites. These enforcement priority groups included: Fire Prevention at Waste Transfer Stations; and Industrial & Waste sites impacting on Water Quality as per the Water Framework Directive.

Fire Prevention at Waste Transfer Stations

There were 41 site visits during a 3 week campaign in March 2021 to assess fire risk management and waste storage practices on waste sites. There were significant issues noted at a number of sites during this period. The outcome of this campaign was recommending and enforcing improved fire risk management practices across industrial and waste sites.

Industrial & Waste sites impacting on Water Quality as per the Water Framework Directive

One of the key priorities of the OEE was to drive improvement at licensed industrial and waste facilities that had been identified as significant water quality pressures. As a result, 30 site visits were carried out during 2021 which were targeting significant water quality pressure issues at licensed sites. As a result of this programme, 14 sites that were previously on the EPA’s Water Framework Directive significant pressures list were removed.

Prosecutions

13 legal actions concerning non-compliances with Industrial or Waste Licenses were heard in Circuit and District Courts during 2021. This resulted in €125,000 worth of fines being paid out, €180,000 in costs awarded to the EPA and €5,000 in charitable donations made.

National Priority Sites

11 sites have been identified as being National Priority Sites. They are as follows:

  • Arran Chemical Company Limited - Air Emissions & Groundwater Contamination
  • Arrow Group Kildare - Odour & Noise Emissions
  • Ballyguyroe Landfill Site (Cork CC) - Landfill gas & Leachate Management
  • Diageo Ireland (St. James Gate) - Noise Emissions
  • Hermitage Farms Ltd (Clifden) - Odour Emissions
  • North Cork Co-op Creameries Ltd - Emissions to Water
  • Saint-Gobain Construction Products (Ireland) Ltd - Emissions to Water
  • Staunton Foods Ltd - Noise Emissions
  • Timoleague Agri Gen Ltd - Site Management & Lack of Required Infrastructure
  • Tipperary Co-op Creamery Ltd - Emissions to Water
  • Western Brand Group Unlimited Company - Emissions to Water

8 of the 11 National Priority Sites during 2021 were from the Food & Drink and Intensive Agriculture sectors. 4 of the National Priority Sites listed above in 2021 were also on the National Priority Site list during 2020. These were: Arran Chemical Company Ltd; Arrow Group; Saint-Gobain Construction Products (Ireland) Ltd; and Tipperary Co-operative Creamery Ltd. The main issues at National Priority Sites during 2021 were related to water and nuisance caused by noise and odour emissions.

Complaints

97% of all complaints received in relation to licensed industrial and waste facilities during 2021 were regarding four main issues. These are: Water Quality; Air Quality; Noise; and Odour/Smells. There were 33 water quality related complaints in 2021, a rise of 57% from 2020 when there were 21 complaints regarding water quality. There was a marked decrease in air quality complaints with 65 in 2021 compared to 99 in 2020. This represents a 34% decrease in air quality complaints between 2020 and 2021. Reported complaints regarding unpleasant odours and smells stayed relatively the same with an increase of 3 complaints in 2021 from 2020. There were 686 complaints in 2021 compared to 683 in 2020. A major increase was seen in complaints from the public regarding noise with 664 related complaints in 2021, a rise of 112% from 2020 where there were 313 such complaints.

Overall, the number of complaints received by the EPA increased by 28% from 2020. However, the number of sites in which the complaints were related to remained largely unchanged. Complaints were received regarding 125 licensed sites during 2021. This marked little change from 2020 where there were complaints from the public regarding 121 licensed sites.

 

September 2022