Complaints against licensed industrial and waste sites increased significantly during first six months of 2020 says EPA

Date released: July 16, 2020

• Eight sites were identified as National Priority Sites during the period January to June 2020.
  • Three of the National Priority Sites were from the Waste sector.
  • Five sites have remained on the list since it was last published in April 2020:
    • Arrow Group,
    • Arran Chemical Company Ltd,
    • Tipperary Co-operative Creamery Ltd,
    • Raffeen Landfill Site (Cork Co. Co.), and
    • Greyhound Recycling and Recovery.
• The EPA has been responding to a significant increase in odour complaints (420) about industrial or waste sites from the public in the first six months of 2020 when compared to the same period in 2019 (126).
• Three sites (Tipperary Co-operative Creamery Limited, Merck Millipore Limited, Limerick Gasworks) accounted for 62% of all complaints about industrial or waste odour sites in 2020.

The EPA today published the most recent National Priority Sites List (Table 1), as well as updated information on the enforcement activities of the EPA during the first six months of 2020.

The EPA welcomes the fact that three sites have come off the National Priority Sites List which was published in April 2020, following improvements in compliance or reduced risk (Table 2). The latest National Priority Sites list identifies eight sites that are the focus of the EPA’s enforcement activities. Three of these sites (Tipperary Co-operative Ltd, Merck Millipore Ltd and Limerick Gasworks) account for 62% of all odour complaints to the EPA from industrial and waste facilities.

Commenting on the publication of the latest National Priority Sites List, Mr. Darragh Page, Programme Manager, EPA’s Office of Environmental Enforcement said:

"The number of odour complaints received by the EPA in the first six months of 2020 was more than three times that of the same period the previous year.

The Covid-19 Pandemic has resulted in widespread disruption to society and businesses with many licensees temporarily closing or scaling back their activity. However, at a time when everyone was being asked to restrict their movements and to stay at home, it is unacceptable that a number of industrial and waste sites caused great distress to those living around them by emitting offensive and potentially harmful odours.

Sites that continue to breach their licence conditions and cause environmental pollution can expect further enforcement action from EPA."

The National Priority Sites list is a key enforcement tool for the EPA and is used to target enforcement efforts at the poorest performing sites and to drive improvements in environmental compliance. Prosecution is often the end result of a site appearing on the list, with prosecutions being initiated against the majority of the sites on the current National Priority Sites list.

Commenting on the challenges faced by businesses Dr Tom Ryan, Director of the EPA’s Office of Environmental Enforcement said:

"During the Covid-19 Pandemic the EPA continued to fulfil its essential role in environmental protection. As a principal environmental regulator, we responded to environmental incidents and emergencies throughout the Pandemic and will continue to do so. While we acknowledge that many activities were, and remain, challenged at this time, it is not an excuse to neglect environmental protection.

Licensees who engage with the EPA will find a positive and pragmatic regulator whose main priority is to ensure that human health and the environment are protected.　 The EPA will not hesitate to exercise our full range of enforcement powers if licensees or regulated bodies do not engage with the EPA, or seek to take advantage of the current circumstances."　

The full list of National Priority Sites for the period January to June 2020 is in Table 1 below.

Table 1: National Priority Sites - 6-month period 01 January 2020 to 30 June 2020.

*Arrow Group Limited includes the activities at this licensed site of Dawn Farm Foods Ltd, TCFG Naas Ltd (also known as The Culinary Food Group), QK Coldstores Ltd, Dawn Farms Distribution Ltd and Maudlins Waste Management Ltd.

Notes to Editor

The National Priority Sites for Enforcement system was launched by the EPA in July 2017 to drive further environmental compliance at industrial and waste facilities. It is based on the previous six months enforcement history at all licensed sites. Find out more on the EPA website.

Licensed facilities are identified as National Priority Sites for enforcement using a system developed by the EPA. Points are allocated to each site based on compliance data such as complaints, incidents and non-compliances over the previous six months. Sites which exceed a certain threshold become a National Priority Site and are targeted by the EPA for further enforcement action. The EPA updates the National Priority Sites list on a quarterly basis.

Further details of the National Priority Sites scoring system and the list of sites can be found on the EPA website.

Enforcement information on all sites can be found under the Licence Search pages. In addition we publish quarterly updates on the enforcement activities of the EPA .

Complaints about licensed sites can be made on-line or by contacting the EPA at 053-9160600.