Fingal County Council has announced it will apply to An Bord Pleanála for permission to develop a landfill on a 500-acre (210-hectare) site at Tooman/ Nevitt in north Co Dublin.
The council wants the landfill, which would be one of the biggest in the State, to serve Dublin city and county for up to 30 years.
It would have a dumping area of 137 acres (58 hectares), and a capacity for 9.4 million tonnes of waste. Eight houses would have to be demolished if the scheme is approved.
The Tooman site lies close to the M1, about 11km north of Swords. It was selected by consultants acting for the four Dublin local authorities ahead of six other sites - three in the Fingal area, two in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown and one in south Dublin. Under the Planning and Development Act, 2000, the council must publish an environmental impact statement as part of the application. The development will also require a waste licence from the Environmental Protection Agency.
In a statement yesterday, Fingal senior engineer Éamonn Walsh said the landfill would be engineered "in accordance with modern landfill design".
There would be a minimum 250m buffer between the disposal area and closest residences.
He said the public should be reassured that modern engineered landfills with proper screening, leachate and gas collection were far removed from the traditional "dump". However, opposition has come from residents and politicians, including Seán Ryan TD, who urged An Bord Pleanála to hold a public hearing "given the impact of the dump on the local community".
:quality(70)/s3.amazonaws.com/arc-authors/irishtimes/8a09a42a-bf7b-491e-848d-432f8309b3fa.png)