Close to 75 residents of Bottlehill in Co Cork gathered at an oral hearing in the Mallow Park Hotel yesterday to list their objections to a multi-million euro super dump planned for their area.
If permission is granted to the project, the super dump will handle all of the non-recyclable waste from Cork City and County for the next 20 years.
Members of Bottlehill Environmental Alliance (BEA) fear that the super-dump project will go to the development stage without having a separation plant in place.
The original site for a Materials Recovery Facility was Kinsale Road in Cork but local objections forced the City Council to abandon the proposal.
Spokesperson for BEA, Mr John O'Riordan, said yesterday that residents in the area were concerned that all of the organic food waste would end up in Bottlehill, resulting in an invasion of rats and crows and huge quantities of landfill gas.
He claimed BEA supporters also had reservations about possible traffic implications if the project was given the go-ahead.
"We could have up to 150 lorries a day arriving at the landfill. We have to consider the safety implications of these vehicles turning right off the N20 in what is now recognised as one of the busiest roads in the country. This is a rural area.
"Substantial nuisance is also expected from the landfill in the form of noise and dust," he added
The hearing is set to continue until the end of this week.