Date released: October 21, 2022
The EPA has published the details of its enforcement activities to date in 2022, and its latest National Priority Sites List - containing those facilities with the poorest compliance and environmental performance records so far this year. Sites are placed on the EPA National Priority List if they fail to adhere to their licence conditions and, as a consequence, are posing a risk to the environment.
The EPA has carried out over 1049 inspections of licensed sites so far in 2022, and dealt with over 1161 complaints relating to licensed sites. On foot of this enforcement work the EPA has identified an increasing number of sites of concern which has resulted in an increase in the number of sites on the National Priority Sites List, from eight in Q2 to 12 in Q3.
The latest National Priority Site List is dominated by sites from the Food & Drink and Waste sectors, with five of the 12 sites being from each of these sectors (Table 1).
Commenting on the publication of the list, Dr. Tom Ryan, EPA Director said:
“The emergence of facilities in the food the and drinks sector on the EPA’s National Priority Sites list, due to their poor compliance and environmental performance records so far this year, is incompatible with the sustainable development goals and green image of the sector. Activities from these facilities are unnecessarily affecting the water quality of their local environment and of local people’s right to the enjoyment of a healthy environment. This trend has to be reversed and the EPA will hold any licensed operator polluting the environment or impacting public health to account.
Adding to comments on the sites in the Food & Drink sector, Mr. Darragh Page, EPA Programme Manager said:
“The waste sector also continues to be a major contributor to sites on the National Priority Sites list with five sites from the waste sector appearing. It is concerning to see a number of the listed sites appearing on successive priority lists, indicative of the fact that there is sustained non-compliance with the waste licences posing an ongoing risk to the environment.
The EPA will continue to focus our enforcement efforts on those who pose a risk to the environment or cause environmental pollution, and those on the priority sites list can expect further enforcement action from the EPA.”
The full list of National Priority Sites for Q3 2022 is in Table 1 below.
| Site | County | Sector | Issue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arrow Group* | Kildare | Food & Drink Sector | Odour & Noise |
| Aurivo Dairy Ingredients Ltd | Roscommon | Food & Drink Sector | Wastewater treatment & Odour |
| Ballyguyroe Landfill | Cork | Landfill Sector | Management of gas & leachate |
| City Bin Co Ltd | Galway | Non-Hazardous Waste Transfer Stations | Sector Emissions to water & waste management practices |
| Euroflex Teoranta | Donegal | Surface Coating Sector | Air emissions |
| Forge Hill Recycling Ltd | Cork | Non-Hazardous Waste Transfer Stations Sector | Odour & waste management practices |
| Gairdini t/a Munster Joinery | Cork | Surface Coating Sector | Emissions to water |
| Kepak Athleague | Roscommon | Food & Drink Sector | Wastewater treatment |
| North Cork Co-Op Creameries Ltd | Cork | Food & Drink Sector | Wastewater treatment |
| SRCL Ltd | Dublin | Hazardous Waste Transfer Stations Sector | Waste handling & storage |
| Timoleague Agri Gen Ltd | Cork | Compost Sector | Odour & facility infrastructure |
| Western Brand Group Unlimited Company | Mayo | Food & Drink Sector | Wastewater treatment |
*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.
Further information: Emily Williamson, EPA Media Relations Office 053-9170770 (24 hours) or media@epa.ie
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 of the EPA website. In addition we publish quarterly updates on the enforcement activities of the EPA.
Complaints about licensed sites can also be made on the EPA website.
