Fossil fuel burning plant gets go ahead in Mayo
mayo |
environment |
news report
Tuesday January 08, 2008 16:51
by mr blue
little now stands in way of incinerator style power project
Plans are fast progressing to redevelop part of the old Asahi chemical plant in Killala County Mayo with a power plant using the same type of technology that is used in incinerators. Although the company behind the scheme say they intend to generate electricity using a mixture of peat, wood, and imported coal, many fear that the huge facility will be converted to an incinerator in the future.
The board of MAYO POWER with Myles Staunton (ex Fine Gael TD) second from left
The company behind the scheme is Mayo Power, with the main player being Myles Staunton (pictured above second from left), former Fine Gael TD who owns the company jointly with Rockland Mayo Holding Company (a UK and US consortium). Staunton's son Myles Junior is currently a county Cllr. Mayo County Council gave planning permission for the site just before Christmas.
It's interesting to note that the advantages listed by Mayo Power, backed by the Chamber of Commerce, are almost exactly the same as those given by Shell for the Bellanaboy Refinery- i.e. jobs and security of energy supply.
At the moment the scheme's backers are claiming that there will be 30 jobs, but they often talk about 80 jobs sometime "in the future" and while the actual figure will probably never be made public, the projected estimate will no doubt rise to the hundreds as the cheerleaders for the project gain confidence.
Oddly, while the scheme will obviously generate power from the peat bogs, little mention is made of the fact that nearby Bellacorick power station, a peat fired generator which was operated by the ESB, was decommissioned a few years back and recently demolished. The peat that would have been burned in Bellacorick, which was said to be uneconomic, magically becomes economic to burn in the CHP plant Mayo Power want to install in Killala.
Concerns about the environment, the pumping of ash and waste into the air, the increase in traffic and the impact on tourism are being brushed aside at the moment. Instead, we are hearing the same ritual formula about "providing jos", as if working to make the characters pictured above richer was a gift to be thankful for, and "kickstarting industrial development" , as if all the warnings we have heard about fossil fuels and industry making climate change worse, simply did not exist.
No one explains why Bellacorick had to be torn down if another generation plant was so badly needed.
No one raises the issue of exactly why the disputed Shell refinery could not have been sited at Killala.
With the backing of then Chamber of Commerce, it seems the scheme has everything on its side to get through the final planning stage. At times like this it would be useful to have an opposition party who might provide a different set of arguments to the outdated models put forward by the business community to enrich themselves.
Sadly, previous experience in Mayo would imply that the local people who are worried about the scheme in Killala would be wrong too wait for the established political parties to speak against the interests of the chamber of commerce.
In this, as in so many things, it's hard to see much difference between opposition and the Greena Fáil coalition.
A house in Killala, County Mayo
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Comments (12 of 12)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12so you're blue
with the conditions in mayo tonight, I'm not surprised.
thankfully, the bulk of the mayo people have basic survival skills. By now, most will be enjoying the warm glow of a fossil-fuel fire.Many will be using a mixture of wood, peat and imported coal.
Come in from the cold please, we do not like seeing you in such a confused state.
Before you settle in though, you promise to stop raveling about things you don't understand !
I'm not sure what raveling means, but here's some stuff I do understand. Do you?
The burning of fossil fuels is adding to Climate Change, which the current minister for Natural Resources, has called the most serious issue to ever face this country.
Developing another fossil fuel generation facility, instead of concentrating on renewable energy, especially in a place where there are extremely strong tides and high winds, shows a complete disregard for facing up to the realities of what Climate Change means.
Closing down a viable peat burning power station and then building another one doesn't any make sense- unless the CHP plant is going to be turned into an incinerator in the future. Maybe someone thinks the battle for incinerators is going the way they like, so in a few years a licence for change of use will be easy to get. It'll be much harder for the locals to fight against then too. Smart huh?
If Killala is so suitable for this development then why isn't Shell there?
The article seems to point out a blatant contradiction between the government having shut down Bellacorick peat-powered electicity generation station years ago on the grounds of diminishing efficiency, and this new company claiming efficiency for its projected Killala plant using peat, wood and paper. Have they got out any fancy statistics to prove the company assertion?.
Otherwise it strikes me as another localised nimby whinge.
Its quite clear the author has no idea about the efficiencies in generating electricity. Comparing a 20 plus year old generating plant to a more mordern faclity points to a total ignorance of the industry.
Sure there are plans afoot to increase the amount of renewable energy units in the bay. Latest reports show tests are on going both technically and financially on Bartra Island to cover it with 3 blade 3.5 MW wind turbines. Unpreturbed the local building industry are moving on derlict buildings to renovate and rent out to the work force that will be required to place the power plant and the new proposed wind farm.
The people of Killala are sleep walking.
Did they learn nothing from Asahi and its pollution?
Killala will become the incinerator for Connaught.
I don't know anything about the differences in generating electricity, and unlike others i'm not going to pretend otherwise.
But, it strikes me as very odd that it could ever be cheaper to build a brand new power station rather than refurbishing an old one, and I don't think that has been explained. I understand the CHP technology proposed for the new one is exactly the same as that used in incinerators.
Should I believe that Mayo is getting an incinerator disguised as power plant? That maybe this is the new way for the incinerator industry to push its cause? I don't know. I do know that all the gentlemen pictured above are interested in is making money, and if that means sneaking in an incinerator while talking the usual rubbish about "jobs" and "kickstarting industry", then they are well capable of doing it...
I know the Asahi chemical plant operated for many years. Does anybody know something about the medical history of any of its former employees? Were the locals disappointed when the Japanese company withdrew from production?
Talking about linings, many of the hundreds of kilometres of piping on this site have asbestos lagging which had fallen into quite a state of disrepair by some accounts, while there are acres of asbestos roofing, which due to its lack of maintenance, had become a worry for the residents of the immediate area. I should like to think that with such a major development taking place on this far too long barren site, that these issues will be taken care of.
And whilst not a major admirer of further fossil fuel energy generating stations being built, it was a crying shame that such a significant industrial complex had been a ghost installation for so long, especially since so much effort, time and cost had been put into developing it in the first place.
.
Warmer,
any evidence of pollution or health hazards caused by Asahi is purely anecdotal since the relevant authorities just didn't want to know.
The locals will tell of how Asahi was refused access to Scotland because of the pollution implications,
of extraordinary multiple cases of cancer in the vicinity,
of people moving home because of the cancer,
of the absence of fish in Killala Bay, and how they have returned since the closure,
of the factory being forewarned of 'surprise' health and safety inspections,
of the rush to clean up, flush pipes,etc. before inspectors arrived.
Today the local people are still in danger from the asbestos dust which is blown from the factory roof.
Nobody is sorry to see the back of Asahi.
All of which gives the people of Erris little confidence in the regulation of the gas refinery.
With all those 'purely anecdotal' facts about Asahi readers can now make a sound judgement about the latest proposal.
"Although the company behind the scheme say they intend to generate electricity using a mixture of peat, wood, and imported coal, many fear that the huge facility will be converted to an incinerator in the future."
The author says this as if the latter is worse. Building a coal-fired power station is a disaster. Coal is the dirtiest fuel ever - it generates about 2.7 times its own mass in carbon dioxide when it is burned.
The government and businesses of Ireland are just not acknowledging the reality of climate change and this site indicates that neither is the left.
An Bord Pleanala has now refused planning permission for the CHP plant in Killala.
Can you guess the reason given ?
1. Local people are worried by the pollution which would be caused.
2. Being an ex-Fine Gael TD is not the same as being an ex-Fianna Fáil TD
3. Shell to Sea has freaked everyone out, and the Minister doesn't want any more hassle than is absolutely necessary (there are local elections next year).
4. The project would be contrary to the national policy to reduce power generation from peat.