This article is from page 1 of the 2006-11-28 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 1 JPG
CLARE’S Moneypoint power station is belching more poisons into the air than any other industrial source in the country, a new report has revealed. The environmental cost of the damage has been put at €1 billion, according to the British Stern Report on Climate Change.
Also featuring in the list for chemical pollutants were the neighbouring Tarbert ESB plant and Aughinish Alumina in Limerick.
Figures published by the European Pollutant Emission Register show that Moneypoint tops the list for highest emissions of a number of environmentally-damaging chemicals.
The coal-burning station near Kilrush is the greatest source of carbon dioxide emissions, producing 5.55 million tonnes of the stuff in 2004.
It was also the leading source of arsenic and its compounds, along with five other chemical pollutants.
The Tarbert station came second in the emission of chromium and its compounds, sending 0.141 tonnes skywards in 2004, while Aughinish was second for the production of arsenic and its compounds, releasing 0.052 tonnes into the air in 2004.
A spokesman for the ESB said that they are “taking steps to reduce emissions and, with investment in cleaning technology, we expect to see them drop dramatically in the coming years.”
He added that the station is a vital part in the power production chain as it “lowers Ireland’s dependence on a single fuel to produce electricity”.
The ratings come in the wake of the ESB taking a hammering over revelations that an average annual pay for employees of the company range between €750,000 and €100,000 per annum.
The Environmental Protection Agency said that the inclusion of any company does not mean that it is in breach of its environmental obligations, just that it has been assessed to be among the State’s largest producers of pollutant chemicals.