EPA Prosecutes Shannonside Galvanising

On the 15th December 2005 at Limerick District Court, Co Limerick, Hegarty Metals Processors t/a Shannonside Galvanising pleaded guilty to charges brought by the Environmental Protection Agency in relation to offences under Sections 8 & 84(2) of the Environmental Protection Agency Acts 1992 and 2003 for breaches of its IPC Licence (Reg. No. 650).

The Company admitted breaching conditions of its licence by:

• Allowing polluting matter to discharge to off-site surface waters on four separate occasions.
• Failing to put measures in place to prevent further contamination of surface waters once contamination had been identified and also failing to notify the Agency of same.

Breach of these conditions caused contamination of surface water and also has the potential to impair the local environment.

On hearing details of the offences from an EPA inspector, Judge O’Donnell imposed fines totalling €2,500 and the EPA’s costs of €7,285 were also awarded.

Hegarty Metals Processors Limited t/a Shannonside Galvanising was granted an IPC licence (Reg. No. 650) on 9th January 2004 for the processing of non-ferrous metals, by thermal and chemical means in installations with a batch capacity exceeding 0.5 tonnes. The facility is located in a semi-rural location in the townland of Drombanna, Co. Limerick and is adjacent to the Limerick-Kilmallock road. The facility have been galvanising at this site since 1994.

This prosecution was taken following two site inspections undertaken by the Office of Environmental Enforcement on 13th September 2004 and 21st September 2004, respectively.