THE Environmental Protection Agency has put an anaerobic digestion plant in Timoleague on its national priority list for enforcement as it was deemed to have insufficient water quality protections.
The digester facility operated by Timoleague Agri Gen was one of seven sites countrywide identified as ‘priority’ sites in the third quarter of 2024. The EPA’s national priority sites system ranks industrial and waste licensed sites in order of priority for enforcement. The Timoleague anaerobic digestion plant reduces farm and food waste, creating renewable energy and fertiliser, and reduces reliance on fossil fuel energy.
But in its quarterly Q3 priority list, the EPA said the Timoleague site ‘failed to provide sufficient infrastructure to protect groundwater and surface water’.
‘Our enforcement activities are risk-based and we prioritise sites that are not complying with their licence,’ said the EPA’s office of environmental enforcement director Dr Tom Ryan. ‘The seven sites on the current list will be the subject of targeted enforcement action to ensure that the environmental issues are addressed, and compliance is restored.’
Three milk processing sites are on the list: North Cork Co-Op Creameries, Tipperary Co-operative Creamery, and Aurivo Consumer Foods in Donegal. ‘Milk and milk effluent pose a significant risk to local streams and rivers if it is not carefully managed. The dairy sector must prioritise investment in environmental controls to prevent the discharge of polluting material,’ said EPA industrial licence enforcement programme manager Pamela McDonnell.
The EPA national priority sites system was launched by the EPA in July 2017. Data for the previous six months is assessed under four key indicators of environmental performance and licence compliance.
