Press Release: Regional Biosolids Storage Facility
On Tuesday 12th of September, I attended Irish Water’s Stage 3 Public Consultation regarding plans to build a biosolids storage facility at a site in Newtown/Kilshane. I spoke with Irish Water representative Donal O’Connor who gave me the facts surrounding the proposed biosolids storage facility. He was adamant that their plans were designed to have minimal consequence on the surrounding area in terms of environmental, economic and engineering, planning, and social and community impact.
Biosolids are a by-product of waste water that undergo a treatment process to create a low odour product that tested in line with EU regulations and is not harmful to human health. The water that is separated from the biosolids is treated and returned safely to the main water sources, in a recycling system of sorts. The high levels of nutrients contained in biosolids makes it a renewable, sustainable, and organic fertiliser that is extremely beneficial to the environment when used in agriculture.
25,000 tonnes of biosolids are currently produced in the Dublin region, but as there has been a growth in waste water treatment, a new facility is needed as production will fast surpass capacity. At present, there is a storage plant in Co. Carlow but it unable to sustain the large quantities being produced. There were a number of sites that Irish Water looked at with the idea of applying for planning permission to carry out the works. After an extensive analysis of the various different sites under a number of criterion headings, Newtown/Kilshane was chosen as the preferred site.
The site is approximately 11.4 hectares in size and is located in an area zoned for heavy industry. The biosolids would be fully treated at a waste water treatment plant prior to being transported to the facility in covered trucks, and would only be unloaded internally to mitigate noise and air pollution. The air within the building is designed to be odour treated to further prevent the possibility of negatively impacting the surrounding area. Traffic in and out of the facility would operate on a “left in, left out” system so as to not interfere with the surrounding road network and maintain road safety. This site is well serviced by the adjacent motorway so it is estimated that traffic in the area will increase by just 1%.
I want to stress the importance of encouraging prudent waste water management such as biosolid production because it prevents pollution of our water systems and promotes the use of renewable resources. The proposed biosolids storage facility will help to ensure that treated waste water can be safely returned to our rivers, lakes and seas. The world is thankfully shifting towards renewable methods of energy production and waste management and is relying less heavily on outdated, expensive systems that have no environmental benefits whatsoever.
I am in full support of this initiative and I hope that residents in the Ashbourne District will agree that a biosolids facility is a positive step forward for social, economic and environmental development.
Submissions or observations on the project are invited by 5pm on Tuesday October 10th, 2017.
By phone: 1890 44 55 67
By email: biosolids@water.ie
By post: Biosolids Consultation, Irish Water, Colvill House, 24-26 Talbot Street, Dublin 1.
