Former taoiseach Mr John Bruton has condemned the decision to grant permission for an incinerator at Carranstown, Duleek, four miles from Drogheda.
Meath County Council yesterday granted planning permission to Indaver Ireland for an incinerator as part of a £60 million waste management facility at Dunleek.
There has been considerable opposition to the plan with The Irish Timesreporting that over 4,000 individual objections and a petition with more than 27,000 signatures had been lodged with the county council by opponents of the plan.
Mr Bruton said the health effects of incineration were not adequately researched and criticised the Government’s waste management plans as having too much emphasis on incineration in the short-term.
The Meath TD said: "The building of incinerators will undermine the economic viability of waster minimisation and recycling options because of the demand for unrecycled rubbish that they will create."
He said Carranstown was an "uniquely" unsuitable location for an incinerator. Because the Minister for the Environment had not brought the necessary legislation into force, the county council had not been able to take environment considerations into account when making their decision, he said.
But spokesman for the Department of the Environment said it has no part in planning system which lies in the remit of the county councils, while the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) oversaw compliance to EU regulations on waste and pollution issues.
A local action group, The Louth Meath Anti-Incineration Alliance, claimed the plant people living along the Drogheda east coast to Balbriggan will be at risk from cancer-causing dioxins released from the plant.
The No Incineration Alliance said it will lodge an appeal with An Bord Pleanála in an effort to overturn the decision. The action group said the County Council’s decision was "appalling" given the close proximity of the primary school at Mount Hanover and Drogheda town to the proposed plant.
Indaver has said the local group’s objections are unfounded and that 50 per cent of the cost would be spent on guaranteeing the plant operates below EU emission limits.
The planning permission is subject to 30 conditions and will be subject to the receiving a licence from the EPA who will also monitor the plant to ensure it complies with EU regulations.