Ringsend sewage treatment plant to be expanded

The controversial sewage treatment plant at Ringsend in Dublin, which continues to emit foul odours and is the subject of legal action from the European Commission, is to be expanded, Dublin City Council has said.

Green Party chairman John Gormley said he had secured confirmation from the council yesterday that the waste water treatment plant had capacity problems and would have to be expanded to process the waste of 2.2 million people.

Mr Gormley said he had previously voiced concerns that the plant could not deal with the volumes of sewage it was accepting, but these had been "dismissed out of hand" by the council.

However, Dublin City Council said the proposed extension was included in the original tender documents for the plant and was sanctioned by the Minister for the Environment last year.

"This is a load of nonsense. In the tender documents an option is included for the successful tender to carry out an extension. The proposed extension went to public consultation in 2003 and was agreed in November 2003," assistant city manager Matt Twomey said.

The Minister for the Environment last May included the extension of the plant in the 2004-2006 development programme, Mr Twomey said.

"This extension was intended from the time the contract was approved. It has long been in the public arena."

Work would not begin until the odour problem had been remedied by the contractor, ABA, Mr Twomey said.

The legal action by the European Commission against the Government for its failure to address a number of environmental issues relating to the Ringsend plant, including the odour problem, would not affect the proposed expansion, he added.