On Day 3 of the Oral Hearing (21 April 2016) CHASE Opening Submission was presented.
Opening the submission CHASE Solicitor Mr Joe Noonan said that “Cork Harbour is a special place” and asked the Board to respect Government policy for Cork Harbour which is set on a very definite and positive path, referring to the positive policy initiatives advancing the Harbour as a resource and location for sustainable development, recreation and a developing tourism infrastructure.
Immediately addressing issues relating to the identity of the applicant, namely that the planning application made in the name of “Indaver Ireland Ltd” differed from the applicants name in public notices in newspapers which quoted “Indaver Ireland’, Mr Noonan highlighted that the subsequently confirmed applicant “Indaver Ireland” is a business name, not a legal person and it cannot make a valid application under Section 37E. Indaver have attributed the discrepency to a ‘clerical error’.
Requesting a termination to the application Mr Noonan said “We therefore call upon the Board to terminate the process now with immediate effect. Should the Board decline to do so, we expressly reserve our clients’ legal rights and any further particpation in this process is entirely without prejudice.”
The Opening Statement highlighted the issue of health risk evidence, which was considered irrelevant at the 2003 hearing, and the 2008 hearing concluded that there was no objective risk to public health.
Mr Noonan submitted specifically that the Board is required to approach the issue of human health with at least as rigorous a standard as it would apply to protected species in the nearby Natura site and stated “We submit that having regard to the constitutional provisions on respect for bodily integrity, Common Law, nuisance and the EU Treaty provisions on maintaining a high standard of environmental protection, it would be irrational as well as unlawful for the Board to afford a lower standard of protection to human beings than to designated protected species”
Neither the EPA, HSE or HSA presented at this mornings prescribed bodies session and none of these bodies have indicated their intention to make any presentation. In contrast, substantial time was devoted during the morning session to discussing the monitoring of fish and liver testing of certain fish species in the nearby Natura site to ensure their protection, raised by Mr Jarvis Good, from the Department of Environment Birds and Wildlife Section.
Shane Bennett, Hydrogeologist presented for CHASE further evidence on coastal erosion and flooding on the site. Mr Bennett said that “Indaver have yesterday corroborated the issues regarding erosion which CHASE raised in their submission.”
The Inspector inspector advised the hearing of a request from the Department of Defence to present a formal statement tomorrow morning at 10am.