Permission sought to import 3.6 million tonnes of waste to restore Dunleer quarry to agri use

A planning application has been lodged with Louth County Council, seeking to restore a 16.7 hectare quarry in Dunleer to "long term beneficial agricultural use", by importing 3.6 million tonnes of "natural inert waste and/or dry non-waste materials suitable for restoration purposes, principally excess soil, stone and/or broken rock" to the site.

To get some perspective on the size of the site and the enormity of the task involved, the smallest international football field size permitted by FIFA is 0.62 hectares, so 16.7 hectares could be considered the equivalent of over 27 football fields.

If a truck carries 20 tonnes in one trip, it would take 180,000 truck loads to fill the quarry back to ground level.

The address this application relates to is Mountaintown & Cluide in Dunleer and the application has been made by Kilsaran Concrete Unlimited Company.

The development, the applicant says, would be carried out on a phased basis and completed within 10 years with an additional 2 years to complete restoration works (total duration sought is 12 years).

According to the application, "a waste licence will be required from the Environmental Protection Agency(EPA) in respect of waste used for backfilling and restoration purposes. A waste facility permit will also be sought from Louth County Council to facilitate intake of waste pending the grant of a waste licence from the EPA. An Environmental Impact Assessment Report (EIAR) has been prepared in respect of this planning application."

A decision is due on the application, which is at a pre-validation stage, by August 26, with submissions due by August 5.