Toxic shock

In 2002, a site near the Galway village of Kilconnell was earmarked as the major landfill location for the waste of Galway City and County. The local community vigorously opposed the development. Things took an odd turn when the waste company at the centre of the planned landfill offered €50,000 to the chairman of the Anti-Dump Committee - on condition he resigned from the committee! Padraic O,Neachtain reports

Paraic Lohan took the lead in Kilconnell when proposals for a superdump in the area came to the attention of locals, in late 2001. He became chairman of the Anti-Dump Committee. He was astounded when Celtic Waste, the company developing the landfill offered him €100,000 at a meeting attended by his wife and Tom Finn of Galway Farm Relief Services - another member of the Anti-Dump Committee.

The meeting took place in Hayden's Hotel, Ballinasloe on 5 July 2002. Paraic's brother, Laurence, had a piece of land at a junction on the way to the dump site that Celtic Waste Limited, now known as Greenstar, required to facilitate trucks turning towards the dump. Laurence had previously been offered €50,000 for this tiny piece of land and he refused to sell. However, Laurence was not present at this meeting in Hayden's Hotel.

At the meeting, the companies representative, Mr Ray Cotter, told Paraic Lohan that he was offering €100,000 for Laurence's land. This included the original €50,000 offered to Laurence, plus an extra €50,000 for Paraic if the deal went through. Paraic Lohan had no land that the company needed, and they did not seek any of his land for this €100,000. The only conditions, according to Paraic, were that Laurence was to sell them the land and that Paraic resign as chairman of the Anti-Dump Committee.

Following that meeting, a letter of offer was made on behalf of the company, by Mr Cotter, to purchase that section of the site for €100,000.

The offer stated that, "If agreement can be reached on specified land pertaining to Laurence and Anne Lohan, the following financial terms are proposed:

1. "Laurence and Anne Lohan will receive an option payment now of €15,000 and €35,000 if a purchase is concluded.

2. "Paraic and Marcella Lohan will receive an option payment now of €15,000 and €35,000 if a purchase is concluded.'' The offer did not involve any land owned by Paraic and Marcella Lohan. Paraic alleges that he was told at the meeting in Ballinasloe that the money was conditional on his resigning as chairman of the Anti-Dump Committee and that if he didn't, the deal was off.

The family brought the matter to the attention of some members of the national media, who approached the company with regard to the allegations. Within days, solicitors, acting on behalf of the company and their representative, sent a letter to Paraic Lohan accusing him of making "grossly defamatory'' allegations and saying that if he didn't stop making "ridiculous allegations'' they would initiate proceedings against him immediately.

As part of the planning application, it is common that large companies seeking to develop land will pay a non-refundable deposit to the landowner to indicate to the local authority that they have some legal entitlement to the land. The remainder is paid if planning permission is granted for that particular development.

The landowners in Kilconnell can keep the deposit, regardless of the planning decisions made. This is indicative of the level of confidence Greenstar had that the project would get the go-ahead. The landowners can expect to receive the balance of their money if the project has a successful passage through the planning process.

It appears that a lot of money has been spent by Greenstar Recycling holdings Ltd in acquiring land in the area. It is estimated that four or five landowners received over €300,000 in down payments for options on their land in the locality. The options were not pending planning permission. Planning permission for the landfill site at Kilconnell was granted by Galway County Council three weeks ago. Local residents and the Anti-Dump Committee have appealed the decision to An Bord Pleanala.

Local opposition

Local opposition to the 60-hectare dump has been fierce since the application for planning permission went before Galway County Council last year. An original planning application, lodged in September 2002, was put on hold due to insufficient documentation and drawings.

The application was regarded as incomplete under Article 23 of the Local Government Planning Regulations 2001. Greenstar, then known as Celtic Waste, resubmitted the application with the appropriate drawings in November 2002. That same week, An Bord Pleanala refused the company permission to develop a landfill site in Co Westmeath.

In a press release issued at the time, Celtic Waste said that the Kilconnell site was a €15 million investment and that the "proposed landfill will accept 100,000 tonnes of non-hazardous municipal residual waste from south Connaught, including Galway City and County''. This led to fears locally that the site would become a "superdump'' for all of south Connaught.

Conditions

When the County Council granted planning permission at the end of last month, one of the conditions was that the dump would "only accept waste that has been generated within Galway City and county''. But in the same condition (Condition 2) the council leave it open for the developers to apply to the Council to accept waste from other parts of the province - as long as they have the Council's permission. The grant of planning permission is for 10 years and comes with 23 conditions in total.

Several of the conditions relate to the payment of contributions by the developers to the County Council for infrastructural development in the area. A levy of €3 per tonne will be charged for "recreational and community development projects in the area''. Another €1.95 million is to be paid for site supervision and environmental monitoring during the construction phase. Locals are sceptical about whether they'll see any of that money used in the community.

Padraic Dwyer is chairman of the local branch of the IFA and lives directly across the road from the dumpsite. "That money will never get as far as Kilconnell,'' he told Journal 2. "It will be put into a road around Galway City somewhere, but we don't expect to see it around here.''

The local residents hired a team of consultants to help them fight the application for the dump. The local objections were based primarily on the fact that there are 70 households within a 1.5km radius of the site. They also point to an increased traffic hazard at Cappataggle Cross - already recognised by the National Roads Authority as one of the most dangerous roads in the country.

The Western Regional Fisheries Board also expressed concerns over a river, which runs through the site and into the Dunkellin River. This river runs into the sea at Clarinbridge, which has a very strong oyster-growing industry. The Anti-Dump Committee has submitted an appeal to An Bord Pleanala, but Journal 2 understands that the group's consultants were refused access to the dumpsite to carry out tests on behalf of their submission.

A community torn apart

Padraic Dwyer had his farm decimated by BSE last year. "The men in white coats came and took 117 of my cattle off me in October,'' he told Journal 2. If the dump gets the go-ahead, Padraic can expect to wake up every morning, look out his front window and see the landfill in all its glory. He literally has to open his door, walk across the field at the front of his house and he is standing at the entrance to the dump. He fears that the men in white coats will come again. "My animals drink from the stream that flows through that site. I am not convinced that it will be safe for them to go and drink from that stream again,'' he said.

Padraic, with his wife Deirdre, and their three children Orla, David and Shane, farms 120 acres in the area and is chairman of the local IFA branch. He has 220 ewes and has replaced his 117 cattle.

He says that the community is split over the issue of the dump. "The landowners that agreed to sell the land to the waste management company would be unpopular with some people,'' he said. "I suppose I had hoped that the problem would go away and that planning permission would be refused. We would all have been able to get on with our lives then. I couldn't believe it when they announced that the dump was getting the go-ahead. It's BSE all over again - but this time it's worse.''

Their community is the big loser in this story, according to Padraic. "The big winners are Celtic Waste [Greenstar], who stand to make a fortune, and the County Council, who get a dump at the expense of the people of Kilconnell.''

Celtic Waste offered him €50,000 for a 0.48-acre site at the front of his house, which is just across the road from the entrance to the dump. "They needed it for the lorries,'' he said. "I said that I wasn't interested and that they should offer me €300,000 for it. I wanted to see if the were wiling to go that far. They weren't.'' Like others in the community, Padraic was offered a non refundable €10,000 down payment option. But it was subject to the condition that others in the community agreed to a similar deal. The contract for sale, drawn up by the Celtic Waste Limited, to purchase Padraic's land, named these other individuals.

Padraic is also chairman of the parents association of the local national school. He says there are 16 children living within 1km of the dump on its north side. "There are more to the south,'' he said. "Why did they pick this area, with so many people living next to it? There are 70 households within a 1.5km radius of the site. It just doesn't make any sense," he said. "We are a community torn apart.''

What is Celtic Waste/Greenstar?

Celtic Waste Limited, or Greenstar, is located in Unit 9, Ballyogan Business Park, Ballyogan Road, Sandyford, Dublin. It runs the country's first private landfill site outside Kilcullen in Co Kildare.

The facility is due to close in 2005. The company is part of a larger company that operates the National Toll Roads. Both companies have addresses at Burton Court, Burton Hall Road, Sandyford, Dublin.

They give the following description of themselves: "Ireland's leading provider of integrated waste management solutions. We provide services and infrastructure at each level of the waste management hierarchy. Our business development spans a range of services that includes education, research, composting, recycling, and the development of residual landfills for the safe disposal of waste that cannot be reused, recycled or recovered.''

They also state: "Our goal is to work in partnership with our customers to set the standard in waste management practices.''

Greenstar's response:

The allegation is completely without foundation. The letter in question relates to an offer to purchase sections of land that adjoin the proposed landfill, following the advice of independent consulting engineers that improvement works should be undertaken to the existing sub-standard junction (intersection between County Road L3416 and Regional Route R348). Greenstar operates to the highest standards of corporate governance and behaviour in respect to all its dealings and will vigorously defend itself against any allegation that it has acted improperly in any aspect of its business.