The Masonite timber-processing plant in Co Leitrim has been warned by the Environmental Protection Agency that it is in breach of its pollution-control licence relating to emissions of formaldehyde.
Production at Masonite, the largest industrial plant in the State, is currently running at only 50 per cent of capacity, and a second production line is due to open early in the new year. The company will not be able to start the second line until formaldehyde emissions are brought within the limits set down in the licence issued to it by the EPA.
A letter sent to Masonite by the EPA at the end of last month stated that the non-compliance with the licence had been placed on the public record and "may be the subject of further enforcement action by the agency".
This letter resulted from measurements taken in October, and the company was ordered to increase the frequency of testing on one of the vents from which formaldehyde is emitted.
An EPA statement yesterday said that, of five formaldehyde measurements taken in November, all were "outside the emission limit values". Maximum emissions in November were higher than those in October. A further notification of non-compliance has been sent to Masonite as a result.
An EPA spokesman, Mr Dara Lynott, said that the agency would not be taking legal action against the company over these breaches of the licence because a programme of work had been agreed to bring the formaldehyde emissions into line with licence limits.
Mr Lynott added: "They are non-compliant with the limits set down for the vents on one line, but still are below the total licensed mass emission for the facility when the two lines are running in the future."
Mr Joe O'Beirne, a spokesman for residents of the area, said that local people believed "a worrying trend" had been set by the company. "There have been problems with formaldehyde emissions for some months, and the latest figures are the highest so far. People of the area are naturally worried about the health implications." He called for random, independent testing of formaldehyde emissions.
The managing director of Masonite Ireland, Mr Jim Hoey, said that two out of three emission points for formaldehyde had exceeded their licence limit recently while the third was operating within the limits.
Masonite was convicted of breaching its pollution control licence relating to nuisance odours from the plant in a case brought by the EPA in Carrick-on-Shannon two weeks ago. In recent months the company has changed its system of production to eliminate the offensive odour.