Decision to grant planning permission for clean up of Haulbowline warmly welcomed

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project valued at almost €100 million to convert the former Irish Steel plant at Haulbowline in Cork Harbour into a public park can move on to its next phase following planning approval.

Cork County Council project remediation manager Dr Cormac Ó Súilleabháin welcomed An Bord Pleanála's decision to grant planning permission to Cork County Council to carry out the work on the Haulbowline site, which operated as a steel plant from 1939 to 2001.

The operation of the steel plant led to the creation of East Tip, which was made up of 650,000 cubic metres of waste, two-thirds of which was slag material containing contaminants such as arsenic, copper, cadmium, chromium, mercury, nickel, lead and manganese.

Site remediation
Remediation of the site began in August 2011 after the Government moved responsibility for the site from the Department of the Environment to the Department of Agriculture at the request of Minister for Agriculture and Cork South Central TD Simon Coveney.

In March, An Bord Pleanála held an oral hearing where the council outlined its proposals for the remediation of the site and An Bord Pleanála has now granted planning permission.

An Bord Pleanála attached five conditions to the planning, relating mainly to the mitigation of environmental impact, the proper monitoring of plant and marine mammal life, and the management of traffic during the remediation work.

"The proposed development would protect the environment and amenities of Cork Harbour, would enhance the qualities of the environment and amenities of the area, and would result in the stabilisation of a waste site for which remediation is required," said An Bord Pleanála. Dr O Suilleabhain said the decision to grant planning approval reflected the work put into the planning application by the council and the specialist consultants it had hired to prepare its plan for the remediation of the site.

EPA application
Dr O Suilleabhain said the council would await a response to its application for a waste management licence from the Environmental Protection Agency, which it requires before remediation work can start.