arklow wastewater treatment plant...a report “irish water & wicklow county council arklow...
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Arklow Wastewater Treatment Plant Update Newsletter Public Consultation Phase 2May 2015
IW/C
P/AT
P/B/
0515
Irish Water | Arklow WwTP | ii
The purpose of this brochure is to:
• Provide updated information on the Arklow Wastewater Treatment Plant Project
• Invite you to participate in this second round of public consultation
• Provideasummaryofthefirstpublicconsultationprocessanditsfindings,whatishappeningnow,andthe next steps
Have your say
Forfurtherinformation,pleasevisitourwebsite or contact the project team:
Web: www.water.ie/arklowtp
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: 089 228 5902 9am-5pm,Monday-Friday
MásmianleatcóipdenleabhránseoafháilasGaeilge,déanteagmháilleisanlinnaranuimihirthuasluaite.
Safeguarding your water for your future
Irish Water | Arklow WwTP | 1
Why do we need the Arklow Wastewater Treatment Plant?
Atpresent,untreatedwastewaterfromhomesandbusinessesinArklowisdischargedintotheAvocaRiverthatrunsdirectlythroughArklowTown,Co.Wicklow.Thispracticeofdischarginguntreatedwastewater to the river is not acceptable and Irish Water intends to fixthisprobleminpartnershipwithWicklowCountyCouncil.
TheArklowWastewaterTreatmentPlantwillbringbenefitstothepeopleofArklowintermsofhealth,integrityoftheenvironmentandimprovedwaterqualityforall.AnewWastewaterTreatmentPlant will facilitate economic and social development for the town andsurroundsofArklow.
What does the project involve?
Irish Water intends to develop the Arklow Wastewater Treatment Plant Project which includes:
• AnewWastewaterTreatmentPlant(WwTP)of36,000populationequivalentwhichwillrequireapproximately2hectaresofland,thatwillbestmeetthecurrentneedsofArklow,andallowforfuture expansion of the town
• Associatedinfrastructuresuchaspumpingstation(s)
• ApipelinetobringtheuntreatedwastewatertotheWwTPandtobringcleantreatedwastewaterfromtheplanttotheoutfall
• AnoutfallpipetosafelydischargethetreatedwastewatertotheseaortotheAvocaRiver
Irish Water | Arklow WwTP | 2
What has happened to date?
Step 1:
Thefirststepoftheprocesswastoidentifyareasoflandthatpotentiallycouldbeasuitablelocationfortheplant.Partofthiswastoidentify‘constraints’.AconstraintisalimitingfactoronsiteselectionforlocatingtheWwTP.Typicalconstraintswouldincludehumansettlements,culturalheritage,environmental(Special Areas of Conservation) or technical / physical factors (mountains/rivers/lakes/geologyetc.).
Step 2:
Mappingtheseconstraints,IrishWateridentifiedtenparcelsofland that could potentially accommodate the Arklow WwTP (see maponpage5):1.Ballymoney;2.Killiniskyduff;3.Seabank;4.Killbride;5.Lamberton&BallyraineUpper,6.Ferrybank(includingtheoldWallboardsite);7.TinahaskUpper;8.MoneyBig;9.BoglandandKish;10.SheltonAbbey(includingtheoldIFIsite).
Step 3:
IrishWaterthensetaboutlookingateachoftheselandparcelsin further detail in relation to:
• Potential environmental impacts associated with these site locations
•Engineeringandconstructionconstraintsandconsiderations
• Potential outfall locations
Irish Water | Arklow WwTP | 3
Basedonthisanalysis,threepotentiallandparcels(listedbelow) wereidentified:
No.3Seabank
No.6Ferrybank(OldWallboardsite)
No.7TinahaskUpper.
Step 4:
PublicconsultationtookplacefromOctobertoDecember2014onthefirstphaseofthesiteselectionprocess,includingfeedbackontheconstraintsandwhatshouldbeconsideredinchoosingtheEmergingPreferredSite,routepipelineandoutfalllocation.
IrishWaterwouldliketothankallofthosewhotookpartinthisfirstroundofpublicconsultation.Areport“Consultation Report Phase 1” summarisingtheissuesraisedisnowavailableontheIrishWaterwebsite at www.water.ie/arklowtp.Relevantfeedbackfromthepublicconsultationformedpartofthenextstageoftheprocess,wherefurtherstudieswereundertaken.
Step 5:
Followingmoredetailedinvestigationsoneachoftheidentifiedlandparcels,IrishWaterhasidentifiedtheEmergingPreferredSiteasFerrybank(OldWallboardsite),No.6onthemap,withanoutfallto theIrishSea.
TheEmergingPreferredSitewaschosenfollowinganassessmentof landparcelsandreviewofissuesraisedfromthepublicconsultation.This process involved an assessment of the pros and cons of each of thelandparcels,pipelineroutesandoutfalllocationsagainstarange ofcriteria(environment,social,economicandtechnical,setoutbelow).
Irish Water | Arklow WwTP | 4
Why is Ferrybank (old Wallboard site) the Emerging Preferred Site?
Takingintoaccountthecriteriaabove,thissitehasthelowestenvironmentalimpactofalltheproposedsites.Furtherinformationon this can be found in “Irish Water & Wicklow County Council Arklow Wastewater Treatment Plant, Site Assessment Report, Phase 2” on our website at www.water.ie/arklowtp.
Alternatives
AspartoftheEnvironmentalImpactAssessmentprocess,allprojectsmust also examine alternatives in order to ensure the best project is movedthroughtheplanningprocess.
Followingthepublicconsultationprocess,twoalternativesitesforthisprojectwereidentifiedas:
•SheltonAbbey(includingtheoldIFIsite),No.10ontheMap
•Kilbride,No.4ontheMap
These sites have been assessed as part of the process and were consideredtohaveagreaterimpactontheenvironmentincomparisontotheEmergingPreferredSite,Ferrybank(OldWallboardSite).
Environmental Criteria Technical Criteria
Ecology Safety
CulturalHeritage PlanningPolicy
Landscape&Visual Engineering&Design
Hydrology&Hydrogeology LandValuation
Soils&Geology
Traffic
AirQuality&Odour
Agriculture&Agronomy
Noise&Vibration
People&Communities
Irish Water | Arklow WwTP | 5
FERRYBANK(OLD WALLBOARD FACTORY)
KILBRIDE
SHELTON ABBEY(IFI SITE)
SEABANK
BALLYMONEY
KILLINSKYDUFF
LAMBERTON &BALLYRAINEUPPER
TINAHASKUPPER
MONEYBIG
BOGLAND& KISH
1
3
2
4
10
5
7
8
9
6
EMERGINGPREFERREDSITE FORWWTP
IRISH SEA
AVOCARIVER
Irish Water | Arklow WwTP | 6
What is happening now?
IrishWaterisnowseekingyourviewsonFerrybank(oldWallboardSite)astheEmergingPreferredSitefortheArklowWwTPProjectaspartofaneightweeknon-statutorypublicconsultationwhichwillstartonthe13thMayandcloseon 10thJuly2015.
Irish Water would like to hear your views on the following:
• WhatareyourviewsontheEmergingPreferredSiteatFerrybank(OldWallboardSite),routepipelineandoutfalllocation?
• WhatareyourviewsontheprocessforselectingtheEmergingPreferredSite,routepipelineandoutfalllocation?
• Doyouhaveanycommentsonthealternativesites,routepipeline and outfall locations?
• Is there any other information you believe is relevant to the selectionoftheEmergingPreferredSiteselection,routepipeline and outfall location?
• How would you like to be communicated with as the project progresses?
A report “Irish Water & Wicklow County Council Arklow Wastewater Treatment Plant, Site Assessment Report, Phase 2”,describingthesecondphaseoftheprojectingreaterdetailisavailableonthe Irish Water website at www.water.ie/arklowtp and can beviewedatplanningcountersinWicklowCountyCouncilandArklowMunicipalDistrictofficesandattheWicklowandArklowLibraries.
Irish Water | Arklow WwTP | 7
What is happening next?
All feedback received from this second phase of non-statutory public consultation will be reviewed by the Project Team and will bereportedinaConsultationReport.RelevantfeedbackfromthisphasewillbeusedtoinformtheEnvironmentalImpactStatement.
TheConsultationReportwillaccompanytheFinalSiteSelectionReporttowardstheendof2015.Thiswillbeavailablefrom www.water.ie/arklowtp and we will update all those who have madeasubmissionduringtheproject.
FollowingthepublicationoftheFinalSiteSelectionReport,anEnvironmentalImpactAssessment(EIA)willbeundertaken,thiswillincludethedesignoftheWastewaterTreatmentPlant,associatedpumpingstations,routepipelineandoutfalllocation.TheEIAwillexaminetheFinalSite,routepipelineandoutfalllocationunderthefollowingareas(thisisnotanexhaustivelist):
•HumanBeings •Ecology(FloraandFauna)
•SoilsandGeology •Water
•Noise •AirandDust
•Traffic •LandscapeandVisual
•Odour •MaterialAssets
ThepreparationoftheEIAincludingthesupportingenvironmentalstudies will take over a year to carry out and it is hoped this will becompletedbytheendof2016.FollowingthecompletionoftheEIAanEnvironmentalImpactStatement(EIS)willbesubmittedtoAnBordPleanálaaspartof aplanningapplication.
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History of the proposed Arklow Wastewater Treatment Plant
TheprocessofprovidingaWwTPforArklowbeganwithaplanningpermissionbeinggrantedtoArklowTownCouncilin1994.Duetochangesinenvironmentalpolicyinthefollowingyears,anewEISwasrequiredaspartoftheplanningpermissionprocessandin2005planningpermissionfortheArklowWwTPwasonceagaingranted.Thispermissionwassubjecttolegalchallengewhichresultedintheplanningpermissionexpiringinearly2015.
IrishWatertookresponsibilityforprovidingandmanagingpublicwaterservicesthroughoutIrelandin2014.Providinga new Wastewater Treatment Plant for the people of Arklow is one of Irish Water’s key priorities and we are committed to ensuringthatthisisdeliveredthroughthedevelopmentofanewplanningprocess.
Asthecompetentauthorityforassessinganddeterminingplanningapplications,theBoardwillcarryoutastatutoryconsultation which will provide you with a further opportunity to haveyoursay.ArevisedapplicationforaWastewaterDischargeLicencewillbemadetotheEnvironmentalProtectionAgency(EPA)inparallelwiththeplanningapplication.
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Have your say
Ifyouwouldliketomakeasubmission,pleasesend itbyemailorpost,by10thJuly2015:
Email: [email protected]
Post: Arklow Submissions Irish Water c/oArklowMunicipalDistrictOffices Avoca River House Arklow Co. Wicklow
