April 18th, 2019
Agri-food companies continue to dominate the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) worst offender’s list for regulatory compliance issues.
Five companies are included in the environmental watchdog’s latest National Priority Sites (NPS) list for October 2018 to March 2019.
Two agri-food companies are on the list that targets Irish
industrial facilities that had major environmental regulatory compliance issues
over this period.
Points
are allocated to each site based on compliance data such as complaints,
incidents and non-compliances over the previous six months.
The sites represent less than one per cent of industrial sites
licensed by the EPA but account for 21 per cent of complaints received.
Arrow Group, one of Ireland’s largest agri-food companies, is again on the list for noise and odour complaints. The Co Kildare company has appeared on all eight lists to date.
The group first began processing pork and beef in the late 1970s, going o to become 1979, going on to become Ireland’s largest privately owned agribusiness group and fifth largest within this sector in Europe.
Today, the group comprises around 100 companies, including Dawn International, with operating bases in 12 countries worldwide.
Arrow Group is joined on the latest list by another chicken producer Western Brand Group in Co Mayo, whom the EPA included for wastewater management issues.
An analysis by The Green News of the eight lists released since the summer of 2017 reveals that agri-food companies account for 59 per cent of all inclusions in the combined lists.
All options
on the table
In a statement, the EPA told The Green News that the agency “continually engages” with Arrow Group as its NPS scores have “remained persistently high”.
“All available options for ongoing enforcement actions in
relation to these licensees are used, including prosecution,” the statement reads.
The EPA prosecuted Arrow Group for odour nuisance in September
2018 with fines and costs of €24,000 imposed by the courts.
Rosderra Irish Meats Group has also repeatedly appeared on EPA
list, making the grade six times now.
In November 2018 the company pleaded guilty to five charges concerning non-compliant surface water and sewer emissions, inadequate laboratory quality control and failing to maintain monitoring equipment.
A fine of €6,000 and costs of €20,000 was imposed, according to the EPA, with “significant works” now being undertaken on its wastewater treatment plant and refrigeration equipment.
Several companies certified by the Origin Green food
sustainability scheme have
also been included in previous lists, including Arrabawn
Co-operative Society, Carbery Food Ingredients and Dairygold Co-Operative
Society.
The other companies on the latest list include Euroflex Teoranta
in Co Donegal for issues linked to emissions and waste management.
The East Cork Landfill Site is in trouble with the EPA for poor
landfill gas and leachate management.
The fifth and final company on the list is the Arran Chemical
Company in Co Roscommon for issues linked to emissions to both the air and
groundwater.
Further details of the National Priority Sites scoring system and the list of sites can be found on the EPA website here.
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