Jobs At Risk Over Biomass Emissions

A plan to build a £100m biomass power plant in Co Antrim could endanger the future of a nearby laboratory and hit over 350 associated jobs, writes Carla Liébana.

The proposed Rose Energy power station near Glenavy would use a poultry litter and bone meal mix as an energy source.

At the moment, the company is asking for planning permission to build it and the final decision on the application is expected before Christmas.

According to Peter Fitzgerald, Chief Executive of Randox Laboratories, Rose Energy's plant could force its company out of nearby Crumlin to its manufacturing plant in Donegal or other locations.

He said this is due to the dioxins produced in the process which he said could prove damaging to its products - medical kits for use in hospital, clinical and veterinary laboratories.

"The 80 metre stack that goes with it will spew out dioxins that present a clear and immediate danger to our highly sensitive manufacturing process and the range of products we make," Mr Fitzgerald insisted this week, also warning that the plans would put 354 new jobs at risk.

However, the Rose Energy Chief Executive Osvaldo Mauro-Hun responded to this suggestion and said "they are at odds with what is happening throughout the United Kingdom and Europe", where biomass power stations similar to its project "sit comfortably and safely alongside manufacturing and residential developments".

Mr Mauro-Hun referred to the UK Health Protection Agency report from September 2009, which said "incinerators which are well run and regulated do not pose a significant threat to public health".

Rose Energy is a joint enterprise formed by O'Kane Poultry, Moy Park and Glenfarm Holdingsm, which are the three of NI's biggest agri-food companies.

If at the end the application succeeds, the plant will use 250,000 tonnes of litter and meat and bone meal a year to provide enough energy to power 25,000 homes.

Until now most of that has been used as fertiliser but European Union directives on nitrates and phosphates mean that is no longer an option.

RE said the plant will employ best available burning technology and it will use flue gas cleaning equipment to control emissions.

The results will be routinely sent to the Environment and Heritage Service NI "on a regular basis (to) confirm this".

Meanwhile, the SDLP Economy spokesperson Dr Alasdair McDonnell stated he was concerned at the impact on the local economy if Randox Laboratories moves from Crumlin to Donegal and a party colleague, South Antrim MLA Thomas Burns described this as potentially a "devastating hammer-blow to both the local and wider economy".

He called for a full public inquiry into the Rose Energy application to examine carefully the consequences of locating this facility there.

(CL/BMcC)