‘Dispose of Japanese Knotweed at mothballed superdump site’
BOTTLEHILL LANDFILL COST €42 MILLION TO BUILD AND €200,000 PER YEAR TO MAINTAIN
THE €42 million Bottlehill landfill site, which also costs Cork County Council approximately €200,000 per year to maintain, could be utilised to dispose of the invasive Japanese Knotweed.
That was the motion put forward by Cllr Gerard Murphy (FG) at a recent council meeting. He told The Corkman the facility was originally built by the council on the instructions of the then Minister for the Environment, Noel Dempsey, as part of the National Waste Management Plan. However, that was scuppered with the renewed emphasis on recycling but yet the huge annual costs to the council remain as the site must be maintained to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards.
“A productive and cost saving use must be found for the facility. Knotweed is such a serious and huge problem and it must be disposed of in an efficient manner,” Cllr Murphy said.
“Currently, if the weed is found on a building site it must be removed in sealed containers and transported to Mayo. That is hugely expensive and it greatly adds to the cost of building houses or other developments,” he said.
However, by creating a facility at Bottlehill the cost of transportation could be reduced – while at the same time helping to pay the huge capital and running costs, is Cllr Murphy’s view.
He put forward a motion to the council to refer this to the Environment SPC to consider doing a feasibility study to determine if this can be achieved.
In a reply, Ted O’Leary, Senior Executive Officer, Environment Directorate, outlined that there were five separate proposals three years ago for potential use of the site, in part or in full. One proposal is for a wind energy project which is currently under assessment. However, no “firm date has been established” for a final decision on the other tenders.
However, he said there is no market interest in its operation as a landfill.
“While the economy has improved and there is certainly an increased demand in relation to construction and demolition waste, there remains no indication of a changed waste market in relation to Bottlehill.
“Its potential use as a facility for the disposal of Japanese Knotweed or other invasive species would not increase its viability.
“Under current waste regulation the only available off site disposal outlets for Japanese Knotweed waste are lined EPA licensed landfills or incineration.”
However, he did state that there is an increased demand for construction and demolition waste facilities. And there are ongoing capacity assessment initiatives – both at a national,and local level in relation to such waste.
“Demand for the disposal of Japanese Knotweed or other invasive species at landfill arises almost exclusively from construction activities and as such the material can in this context be considered a form of construction and demolition waste,” he said.
Cork County Council has now asked the Southern Region Waste Management Office to look at this issue as part of capacity assessment initiatives.
He outlined that while it is acknowledged that off site disposal on some development sites be unavoidable from a bio-security perspective onsite treatment of Japanese Knotweed is “always the preferred option.”