Quarry expansion proposal is refused
AN Bord Pleanála has refused two appeals relating to a quarry at Belcarrig Hill, Ballycanew, citing among its concerns, potential pollution to groundwater.
Wexford County Council has said the quarry sits on top of an aquifer which supplies water to Gorey.
An Bord Pleanála refused an appeal by Redrock Developments Ltd. for ‘substitute consent’ which included the deepening and lateral expansion of the quarry area.
The Board felt that this ‘gave rise to a danger to public health and to serious environmental pollution by reason principally of “acid rock drainage” contamination of groundwater (but also from hydrocarbon contamination), and following on from this contamination of groundwater, a potential future threat to surface waters in the area.
‘In addition,’ the Board concluded, ‘ the use of contaminated water for aggregate washing may have resulted in fugitive dust emissions from this site, with elevated concentrations of metals, which may have impacted on residents of the area and road users.’ The Board noted that where substitute consent is refused, the development shall be ‘deemed to be unauthorised’.
The Board didn’t feel it necessary that it should order the company to cease all or part of the quarrying activity or to carry out remedial measures, as ‘ the matter should be addressed through the appropriate mechanisms available to the planning authority.’
The inspector’s report on the file notes that there are enforcement records dating back to 2000 relating to unauthorised quarrying activity at the site. It says that an enforcement notice was issued by the Council in April 2003 ordering the cessation of the quarry use and rehabilitation of the site.
A planning application then was lodged by Redrock Developments Ltd later that month for intensification of use and a new vehicular access. Permission was refused. This was appealed to An Bord Pleanála which granted permission for a revised proposal, to expire after ten years.
Further enforcement action was taken by the Council in August 2009 relating to possible non-compliance with the Board decision, regarding dust control measures. Judicial review of the enforcement notice was sought from the High Court, and the planning authority withdrew the enforcement notice on June 22, 2011. Belcarrig Quarry Ltd sought permission for a concrete batching plant in the quarry in 2011, and this was refused in June 2012.
The application for substitute consent for the quarry was made on April 25, 2014.
The inspector noted that the Council has said the impacts of this quarry are a matter of serious concern as it overlies a regionally important aquifer from which Gorey receives its water supply.
Also in the past week, a separate appeal by Belcarrig Quarry Ltd to extend the quarry was refused by An Bord Pleanála. It said that geophysical survey work done hasn’t determined, beyond reasonable doubt, that sulphide-bearing mudstone seams do not lie within the proposed quarry extraction area, and that the excavation of such seams, should they occur, could result in the exacerbation of the already existing acid rock drainage problem within the quarry, resulting in contamination of ground and surface waters.
It also wasn’t satisfied that blasting in the proposed extension area would not hasten the dispersion of contaminated water through groundwater from the principal quarry pond which is contaminated by acid rock drainage, which could impact on private wells located further down.
It also wasn’t satisfied that the continued extraction of water from the contaminated principal quarry pond would not result in the escape of ‘fugitive dust from stockpiles of washed aggregate, which could negatively impact on the health of humans and farm animals.’
The inspector noted that there does not appear to have been any substantial lateral quarrying at the site since it was inspected in August 2014. However, there was some additional quarrying at the western end of the quarry pit with the water table breached and the void filled with rusty/ red coloured water. On the date of the inspection in December 2016, the quarry was open and operational but at a low level with just one dumper truck moving aggregate around the quarry floor.
In its response to the Council, the company said the quarry is the sole means of livelihood for two families, and the area of sulphide-bearing stones has been isolated and not worked on. It added that cessation of work ‘would result in loss of employment and a potential deterioration in the quality of the environment.’ It said ‘ the quarry operator is fully committed to allocating resources from the ongoing operations of the quarry to fulfil its obligations in this regard.’
Residents argued that planning permission for the quarry has expired. They say blasting occurred in December 2015 and January 2016, and that permission to blast in October 2015 was withdrawn by Gorey Garda Station when it was discovered that the quarry had no planning permission.
When contacted, Belcarrig Quarry director Billy O’Leary had no comment to make.