Annagassan silt is a waste material
COUNCIL KEEN TO RESOLVE ISSUE WITH REMOVING TONS OF SILT FROM HARBOUR
THE sand and silt at the mouth of Annagassan Harbour has been deemed a waste material and will have to be removed to help maintain access to the harbour.
Council officials have been in contact with local businesses in an effort to see who can take the tons of material.
Huge amounts of silt has been causing serious issues for local fishermen, to such an extent that it could mean the long term end of the business locally.
After years of campaigning by local councillors, the council have put an operation in place to get rid of the silt, 3,000 tons of it.
But they have now found that it’s regarded as a waste material and are ‘restricted’ on what they can do with it.
‘I raised it last month and I thought it would be waste material,’ Cllr Colm Markey told the last meeting of the Ardee area council. ‘It’s inearth material, rather than waste.’
Engineer Mark Johnson said the council would meet local businesses to see if there was a commercial value on the material as well as meeting the company that buys the sand from Drogheda Port which has a significant value, compared to the Annagassan silt.
The issue with the material at the harbour is that it does not break down.
The removal of the material will be based on a 10-year licence secured in 2011.
The entire mound in the harbour will have to be removed.
The issue the council now fa see can it be used for other
It will cost €50,000 to do the task, but depends on where the silt will be removed to.