The country's best-known racehorse trainer, Aidan O'Brien, local TDs and county councillors are among those expected to attend a Bord Pleanála public oral hearing which begins this morning in Clonmel.
A planning inspector will hear submissions relating to a proposed waste treatment facility in an area close to the John Magnier-owned Coolmore Stud and Ballydoyle Stables in south Co Tipperary.
A spokeswoman for Green Organics Energy Ltd (GOE), a joint venture business hoping to build the facility, said the company "welcomes the opportunity to outline the positive contribution that the project will make".
She said the facility would recycle animal by-products from meat-processing factories (essentially the leftovers not intended for human consumption) and other biodegradable waste.
"Green" technology, approved by the EU and the Government, would be used to process the waste and generate both electricity and "biodiesel", she said.
But a local campaign group, South Tipperary for Clean Industry, has accused Avglade/ National By-Products, one of the companies involved in the joint venture, of "a history of conflict with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over polluting the air and water".
Spokesman Douglas Butler said National By-Products, which previously operated a rendering plant at the site until its closure in 2004, had demonstrated "disregard for health and safety" and "should not be given another chance to damage our environment". He said "the EPA found countless and repeated breaches of environmental regulations" and "the idea that these people could be given another chance to resume their practices here is too awful to contemplate."
In a statement to The Irish Timesyesterday, Mr O'Brien said "this information shows just some of the harm these people have done to the environment over the years. Now they want to experiment with an unproven technology which we believe brings further risk of environmental damage."
GOE said the facility would be of significant national benefit "by providing a secure and environmentally sustainable treatment process for animal by-products". This was "of critical importance for the future viability of the meat industry in Ireland".
