The Oxigen recycling plant, Merrywell Industrial Estate, Ballymount, Dublin, top, today and, above, an aerial shot taken in July last year [baled waste to the bottom left]. The plant was destroyed by a fire that continues to smoulder and began in the early hours of yesterday morning…

Green Party’s Ciarán Cuffe writes:

“Like many Dubliners I woke up on Saturday to the acrid smell of smoke. At first we thought there was a fire in the house, but as dawn broke we could see a large dark plume of smoke in West Dublin coming from the Oxigen plant in Ballymount. It soon became clear that one of Ireland’s largest buildings had gone up in smoke….

A minimalist statement on the Oxigen website states ”Oxigen Environmental would like to assure all customers that the fire at our Ballymount, Dublin site will not disrupt any services.” Their Twitter feed was last updated on 18 December last. This lack of information is entirely unacceptable for a company that accepted over three thousand tonnes of hazardous waste at their site in 2012.
Thousands of people live close their site at Ballymount near the Red Cow Interchange, and if I was woken by the smell in Stoneybatter six kilometres away i can only imagine what the smells and fumes were like in Crumlin and Bluebell that lay in the path of the smoke cloud.

Thankfully the Environmental Protection Agency issued advice stating that those in the path of the smoke plume should stay indoors and keep windows and doors closed. However people need to know how dangerous the smoke is, and whether parents should move young children or elderly family members away from the area.

..It is unacceptable that more detailed information is not available two days after the blaze.

…South Dublin County Council needs to comment on whether their Fire Certification allowed such a large amount of flammable material to be stored in close proximity to the plant itself.

Another worry is how much pollution of groundwater and rivers has occured.

Dubliners are entitled to more detailed information about what has occurred in Ballymount.

There are questions about the cause of the fire and whether all permits and permissions were in order. We do know that there were two fires at the plant in 2012. South Dublin County Council must state whether Planning Permissions and Fire Certificates were in order.“

More here:Answers needed on Ballymount Fire (Ciarán Cuffe, Cuffe Street)

Traffic Restrictions As Recycle Plant Continues To Burn (Independent.ie)

(Laura Hutton/Photocall Ireland, Cuffe Street)