By Eoin Ryan
A Meath County Council decision to grant permission for Dawn Meats to discharge commercial waste water into the Boyne has been met by public pushback.
The Boyne pipeline plan involves installing a 7.2 kilometre pipeline to pump 400,000 litres of treated wastewater daily into the River Boyne at the Cotton Mills.
Campaigners have criticised the recent decision by an Bord Pleanala not to hold an oral hearing for the pipeline plan. A representative said they have enough information from submissions and observations and do not think a public meeting would add value to it.
This is despite 414 submissions being received by Meath County Council during public consultation and an appeal being sent to an Bord Pleanala. Those who made submissions received letters from the council outlining the position this week.
Prominent local figures such as Slane Castle owner Lord Henry Mountcharles, angling groups and local politicians have all spoken out against this decision.
Around two hundred people walked from Navan to Drogheda last July on the group’s ‘Go with the Flow’ walk to raise awareness of the ongoing appeal to an Bord Pleanála.
Tommy Martin of the Save the Boyne community group said there was a lack of information sent out by Dawn Meats and An Bord Pleanala regarding the application and “there needs to be transparency” for decisions that directly affect the community.
Ordinary community groups are having similar issues in terms of discharge in the waters and “There does not seem to be any support or advice or people that they can go to for assistance,” Tommy Martin said.
The Drinking Water Risk Assessment report for the Dawn Meats development was published stating that there is a low risk from the proposed discharge pipeline.
Meath South East News 