Response to media query from Clare Champion re. Finsa Forest Products
Finsa Forest Products Ltd. holds an Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) Licence from the Environmental Protection Agency, licence number P0022-02. This licence was issued on 16th June 2006, and was a review of an earlier licence issued by the EPA (licence number P0022-01) which was issued on 5thMarch 1997. A copy of the licence can be viewed on the EPA website at:
http://www.epa.ie/
As well as requiring the implementation of environmental management systems to develop a continuous improvement approach to the environmental management of the activity, the IPPC licence for Finsa Forest Products includes specific conditions to control, monitor and limit the emissions to air, water and other environmental media.
Schedule B.1 of the IPPC licence sets out the emission limits that apply to discharges to atmosphere, and emission limits are specifically included here for the main air emission at the facility, the Hot Gas Generator and Drier (emission point reference ‘EP1’). The licensed emission limits given for ‘EP1’ provided for the tightening of limits for certain parameters (e.g. Particulates and Formaldehyde) from the 1st January 2007.
The emission limits presented in the licence are primarily based on levels which are considered Best Available Techniques, as set out in the EPA’s Integrated Pollution Control Licensing publication: BATNEEC Guidance Note for Board Manufacture. (http://www.epa.ie/downloads/
At the time of licensing, the EPA would also have had regard to the predicted environmental impact of the emissions at a particular concentration and emission rate to ensure that compliance with the licence and its associated emission limits would not result in environmental pollution.
As part of the enforcement of this licence, the EPA’s Office of Environmental Enforcement carries out and arranges for independent monitoring, inspecting and auditing of this facility and the associated emissions. The licensee is also required to regularly monitor and assess their own emissions, and to notify the EPA of any non-compliant emissions or incidents of an environmental nature.
Since IPPC licence P0022-02 was issued in 2006, the EPA has been notified by the licensee of a number of incidents involving non-compliant emissions to atmosphere at ‘EP1’. Such non-compliant emissions have also been detected by the EPA’s own monitoring of the emissions.
On foot of this, the EPA has issued a number of Notifications of Non-compliance to the licensee, which is a formal notification requiring the licensee to take appropriate corrective actions to bring about compliance. For 2010, five separate Notifications of Non-compliance have been issued by the EPA to Finsa Forest Products Ltd. for non-compliances with the licence, including non-compliant emissions at ‘EP1’ for Particulate Matter, Formaldehyde and other emissions of environmental significance. Details of these Notifications, as well as all other written correspondence and reports relating to the enforcement of the licence, are available for public viewing at the EPA’s Regional Inspectorate offices at Inniscarra, Co. Cork, and arrangements can be made to view same by contacting the office at 021-4875540.
The EPA continues to enforce the IPPC licence for Finsa Forest Products Ltd., and there is no “grace period” in play during which time non-complaint emissions are authorised to take place. This is illustrated through the ongoing enforcement activity by the EPA at the facility, which has included a prosecution on indictment of the licensee which concluded at Clare Circuit Court on 7th April 2009 for non-compliant emissions to air at ‘EP1’, for which the company was imposed €22,248 in fines and costs. A site inspection of the facility was last carried out by the EPA on the 15th April 2010, and a written report of this inspection is available for viewing on the EPA’s public file (held in Inniscarra, Co. Cork).
The licensee has been engaging with the EPA to consider amending the licence emission limits applicable to ‘EP1’, and this issue is currently under consideration by the Environmental Licensing Programme, which is part of the EPA’s Office of Climate, Licensing and Resource Use (OCLR). The issue centres around the type of air abatement technology that is proposed to be installed at the facility. Pending any outcome to this consideration and any possible future review of the licence, the current emission limits specified in IPPC licence P0022-02 still apply, and the EPA undertakes the enforcement of the licence on this basis.
Hello Realta,
Board manufacturers are not currently covered under the IPPC Directive. Hence we must rely on the national BATNEEC guidance (as contained in the first email.)
However, it is anticipated that such manufacturers will be covered under the forth-coming Industrial Emissions Directive, which is expected in 2011/2012.
As per the earlier email, both the EPA and the licensee are currently monitoring emissions at the facility.
All the relevant reports and documentation are available on the public file in the EPA regional office in Iniscarra, Co Cork.
Should you wish to view these files please let me know and I can arrange this for you.
Regards,
EPA Media Relations Officer
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From: Realta O Brien [mailto:realta.obrien@gmail.
Sent: 16 June 2010 12:40
To: Niamh Leahy
Subject: Re: EPA Information
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