Ciara Faherty
#EnvironmentalJustice #Pollution #IrishCementLimerick #AlternativeFuels #PublicHealthFears
This blog addresses the conflict surrounding Irish Cement’s application and subsequent approval to introduce alternative fuels at their Limerick plant, allowing waste incineration as the primary energy source in the production of cement. Irish Cement’s Limerick Works is located in the village of Castlemungret, which is primarily comprised of a working-class population. The easy access to limestone, shale and clay in the locality made Castlemungret the ideal location for Irish Cement’s plant, which has been in operation since 1938. Locals strongly disapproved of the proposal, raising arguments around environmental justice, geographic and social inequalities, and highlighting the lack of power they held in the decision-making process.
Figure 1: Irish Cement Limerick plant. Also note Castlemungret soccer pitch in left foreground, and the Limestone quarry in left/centre middle. Source: Spencer, T. (2023)
Limerick Cement Works
Irish Cement is part of the CRH group, an international building material company which generated an eye-watering profit of €3.2 billion in 2022. Approximately 900,000 tonnes of cement is produced annually at the Limerick plant, and an active limestone quarry is located on the site. The lower River Shannon Special Area of Conservation is located only 600m to the north of the cement factory, while the Eastern part of Bunlicky Clayfield Pond (formed after clay was extracted for use in cement production) is within the River Shannon and River Fergus Estuaries Special Protected Areas.
Alternative Fuels Proposal
In 2016, Irish Cement applied for an EPA industrial licence permitting the incineration of 90,000 tonnes of waste materials per year. The plan was expected to cost the company around €10 million. The licence permitted the incineration of 1 million used tyres per year, and the remaining 80,000 tonnes of waste materials would originate from ‘industry, slaughterhouses, sewage treatment plants and household and commercial rubbish collections’. The licence application was approved by the EPA in 2021, and it was announced in October 2023 that the plant had formally completed its switchover to waste incineration as an energy source for cement production. Irish Cement claimed the waste would be burned at extreme temperatures inside the cement kiln, which would not produce smoke, fumes, or an increase in emissions. Locals rejected the proposal due to fears of damage to their environment and health, and distrust of Irish Cement Ltd.
Impacts
Environmental justice can be defined as ‘a political claim that all people and communities have a right to safe, clean, and healthy environments’ (Castree et al., 2013).The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) identified various potential impacts of waste incineration on the local environment, including multiple types of pollution (air, water, soil, noise, and visual pollution). The assessment highlighted a risk of elevated emissions, potential impact of construction and waste storage on groundwater and soil quality, changes in air quality and noise due to vehicles regularly transporting waste materials to the plant, and potential damage during construction to eleven proposed National Heritage Areas located near the plant (EPA, 2019). It is clear from this assessment, that the proposal of waste incineration as an alternative fuel created various potential risks of harm and disruption to both the environment and the local population, unfairly denying them of their right to safe, clean, and healthy environments.
Environmental Impact
Air pollution is one of the biggest potential impacts from the proposal. In Walker’s (2012) discussion of ‘air quality and inequality’, he argues that when fighting for environmental justice, ‘claims about air quality are contested’ as shown by Irish Cement’s claim above. While Irish Cement state that tyre burning does not release fumes or increase emissions, it is argued that tyre burning causes dust particle emissions to increase by 500%, and sulphur dioxide emissions to rise tenfold. It is further argued that waste incineration in cement kilns is a source of pollution, releasing ‘toxic emissions into the air containing mercury, lead, cadmium and thallium, and other heavy metals’. As a result of accepting the proposal and granting Irish Cement the license, local residents are now subjected to ‘safe’ daily doses of dioxins and heavy metal nanoparticles.
Figure 2: Health Impacts of Air Pollution. Source: European Environment Agency (2021)
Health Impact
Interestingly, the license was granted regardless of the fact the EIA reported that emissions released from the proposed incineration of waste and ‘alternative fuels’ would have an impact on human health (EPA, 2019). The cement industry emits PM2.5, fine particulate matter in air pollution that causes serious health issues and even death. A study in 2019 found that Limerick experienced the highest level of PM2.5 pollution in Republic of Ireland, with an estimated 8.2% of 2019 deaths in Limerick attributable to long-term exposure to PM2.5 (Irish Heart Foundation, 2023). Furthermore, a study conducted between 1994-2002 found that Limerick city had a cancer incidence significantly higher than the Mid-West rate at the time, along with elevated pulmonary disease and colon cancer rates compared to the rest of the country. Could this be a coincidence, even when faced with evidence of the toxic particles and carcinogenic dioxins emitted by the cement plant? Local residents are at risk of breathing in these toxic particles and dioxins when exercising at nearby sports facilities, with Castlemungret soccer pitch located only 750 meters from the cement plant, and Mungret GAA club only 1km away (see Figures 1 and 3).
Figure 3: Google maps screen grab showing extent of the quarry, and location of 3 pitches in relation to cement plant (Castlemungret Soccer Pitch, Breska Rovers FC, Mungret GAA Club). Source: Google Maps (2023)
Slow Violence
Air pollution is without a doubt a major impact of the cement plant on locals, which Davies (2019) argues is an example of slow violence, where air pollution is a long-form disaster that quietly accumulates over time (even staying within the specified “safe” daily limits) causing environmental degradation and damage to humans through ‘everyday exposure’ to the accumulations of slow violence. Slow violence creates a space of environmental injustice and suffering, due to the social structures who have allowed this inequality and gradual accumulation of harm in the first place: the EPA, county council and Irish Cement to name a few in this case.
Environmental Justice and Human Rights
The disagreement over Castlemungret cement plant was so much more than just a clash of opinions/views, it was a fight for human rights. In 2022, the UN General Assembly recognized the right to a healthy environment as a human right, including ‘the right to clean air…non-toxic environments in which to live, work, study and play; and healthy biodiversity and ecosystems’. Pollution caused by the cement factory denied the locals this human right in some forms, and while it may be on a smaller scale to other incidents around the globe, the residents of Castlemungret and their future generations now have little control over their exposure to this pollution. Easy access to limestone, shale and clay prompted the development of the cement plant in their village in the first place, and when the social inequalities (working-class and little power in decision-making processes) were paired with the spatial inequalities (marginalized population), it led to environmental injustice. The burden of pollution and other risks from cement production was externalized onto the population, as Irish Cement took advantage of them in order to generate profit.
Figure 4: Protest organised by Limerick Against Pollution Source: Lynch, R. (2021)
Conclusion
The local community challenged environmental injustice by protesting alongside TDs and Councilors, creating petitions, lodging official complaints to the EPA (with a fee of €126 per complaint), taking legal action, and creating the organization ‘Limerick Against Pollution’. This action was taken due to a lack of trust in the structures meant to protect them, as the residents were failed by the EPA, Limerick County Council, and An Bord Pleanala, when the proposal was accepted. Furthermore, there was a complete lack of trust in Irish Cement’s proposal, due to previous leaks and dangerous incidents at the plant. In 2006, dust emissions from the plant caused damage to the village and hospitals were placed on high alert for respiratory illness admissions; then in 2016, nitrous oxide emissions were 20% above legal limits; then in 2018 further dust emissions caused damage to local homes and infrastructure; and finally scaremongering tactics were used to try force locals to support the proposal by threatening job security at the plant if the proposal was rejected. Despite over 2000 people publicly protesting, and over 4,000 objections lodged to the EPA, Irish Cement’s proposal was approved.
Davies (2019) argues that ‘ignoring local claims of environmental injustice’ creates a system that supports slow violence. The EPA held two oral hearings which gave locals the opportunity to express their objections and concerns, however the license was granted regardless. This also highlights Zahara’s (2018) claims about risk perception, where ‘public understandings of risk are framed as “perception” as opposed to knowledge’, and their concerns are ignored or dismissed as mere opinions. In this particular case of environmental justice, more work needs to be done to include the voices of the local population in the decision-making processes, and their opinions need to be acknowledged and respected.
Recognition is needed for the obstacles they have faced in the process of opposing Irish Cement Ltd., while greater access to information and legal protections would protect them from any future exploitative proposals. Furthermore, it was recently revealed that while outlined as part of the license, locals have not seen or heard of any developments on the community fund and liaison committee promised to them by Irish Cement. The fund includes an annual contribution of €1 per tonne of alternative fuels used at the cement plant, and would be used to support and establish services and facilities which benefit the local community, yet it is difficult to find any confirmation of this community fund or liaison committee being established. For all the above reasons, it is important to highlight the struggles of the local population, and fight for environmental justice alongside the people of Castlemungret and surrounding localities.
Bibliography
Castree, N., Kitchin, R. and Rogers, A. (2013) Oxford Dictionary of Human Geography. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Davies, T. (2019) Slow violence and toxic geographies: ‘Out of sight’ to whom?. Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space, 40(2), 409-427.
EPA (2019) Irish Cement Limerick (P0029-06) Licence Application: Environmental Impact Assessment Review [online]. Available at: https://epawebapp.epa.ie/licences/lic_eDMS/090151b2806d868a.pdf (accessed 16 December 2023).
European Environment Agency (2021) Air Pollution: How it affects our health [online]. Available at: https://www.eea.europa.eu/themes/air/health-impacts-of-air-pollution (accessed 16 December 2023).
Google Maps (2023) Castlemungret [online]. Available at: https://www.google.com/maps/@52.6409387,-8.702735,1476m/data=!3m1!1e3?entry=ttu (accessed 16 December 2023).
Irish Heart Foundation (2023) Air Pollution and Mortality on the Island of Ireland [online]. Available at: https://irishheart.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Air-Pollution-and-Mortality-on-the-Island-of-Ireland-Report.pdf (accessed 16 December 2023).
Lynch, R. (2021) Irish Cement plans hindered as Limerick people call for second High Court review [online]. Available at: https://www.ilovelimerick.ie/irish-cement-2/ (accessed 16 December 2023).
Spencer, T. (2023) Cement and the Climate Crisis [online]. Available at: https://www.irishevs.com/cement-and-the-climate-crisis (accessed 16 December 2023).
Walker, G. (2012) Environmental Justice: Concepts, Evidence and Politics. Oxford: Taylor & Francis Group.
Zahara, A. (2018) Against Risk Perception [online]. Available at: https://discardstudies.com/2018/10/01/against-risk-perception-the-deficit-model-and-public-understandings-of-risk/ (accessed 16 December 2023).
Geographies of Waste 