Almost ten per cent of whales, dolphins, and porpoises examined as part of a new Irish study were found to have plastics in their digestive tracts.

The study ( https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269...5204#! ) published in Environmental Pollution found that 8.5 per cent (45 individuals) of Irish cetaceans tested had marine debris in their stomachs and intestines.

Deep-diving offshore species such as True’s and Cuvier’s beaked whales ingested more plastics than individuals from coastal or pelagic species.

Data compiled from 1990-2015 on cetacean stranding and bycatch in Ireland was analysed in the study, with post-mortem examinations carried out on 528 digestive tracts from 11 species. read full story / add a comment

High Court challenge to Dublin Airport extension to conclude. First case to test new climate legalisation

Today is scheduled to be the last day of the challenge to the new runway proposed for Dublin airport.

The new runway, if built, will significantly increase the capacity of Dublin Airport and lead to increases in Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions. read full story / add a comment

Friends of the Irish Environment is celebrating our 20th anniversary in the High Court which is currently hearing two of our Judicial Reviews as we launch our 20th anniversary €20 fund raiser.

We’re inviting the public to join us and see our challenges unfold. read full story / add a comment

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) joins other religious and development groups in their call for ‎debt relief for hurricane-battered Caribbean islands. read full story / add a comment

Bord Pleanala have, in ’the interests of natural justice’ invited Indaver to respond to observations responding to Indaver’s additional material specific to flight paths and erroneous dioxin figures submitted at the invitation of Bord Pleanala in response to issues exposed at the 2016 Oral Hearing despite Indaver having being given opportunity to answer those issues in depth at the Oral Hearing. Indaver have four weeks from the advice letter dated 5 September to respond. read full story / add a comment

Monday the 24th of September at 5pm is the deadline for making submissions to An Bord Pleanála on the South Dublin County Council & Coillte plans for what is known as the Dublin Mountains Project for the Hellfire Club & Masseys Wood nearby. The plan is one dreamed up by the council and will cost € 19 million of taxpayer money i.e. collected property tax etc for what is basically a bit of a white-elephant project that will damage the environment, limit public access and charge a fee for what is now free and is expected to run at a loss for at least first 3 years, but yet the private contractors running it will be "insulated" from losses. In essence the project will put an valuable amenity that is in public hands effectively into private hands and give them a license to milk the public forever on it. If this gets through, it will be replicated all over the country in that arrogant and greed driven way we are all familiar with from the Celtic Tiger days and again today. read full story / add a comment

Cyclehack Dublin is running a three-day event this weekend to “test new cycling innovations” to improve cycling in Dublin.

“Whatever your background, if you want to brainstorm solutions for improved cycling experience in Dublin and prototype them, come meet other like-minded individuals for a weekend of hacking,” said the organisers.
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There will be an information event in the County Library, Tallaght from 3pm – 6pm on Tuesday 15th August 2017 where Council staff will be available to provide general guidance and answer queries relating to the proposed Dodder Greenway

This has been posted at short notice because it is happening today.

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The 5th deadline of today, 10 August set by Bord Pleanala for a decision on the controversial Ringaskiddy incinerator application has passed and a new date of 12 September 2017 has been set. A decision on this application is now over a year behind the original July 2016 statutory deadline set in order to meet Strategic Infrastructure Planning application guidelines. read full story / add a comment

CHASE have submitted forensic analysis of Indaver’s new material to Bord Pleanala which reveals a starving model man on under 1,000 calories a day in order to meet EU dioxin intake limits, a gross underestimation by over 57metres of the vertical emissions dispersal and associated risk zone to helicopters, comparisons with a helicopter landing base near a UK Naval base that fails to mention that helicopter operations there ceased in 2012, three years before the nearby incinerator commenced operation in 2015, as well as ongoing dioxin discrepancies. The submission period for observations on Indaver’s new material closed on Friday last, 21 July at 5.30pm. read full story / add a comment

Ireland has become the fourth European country to ban hydraulic fracturing (after France, Bulgaria and Germany). On June 28, the Petroleum and Other Minerals Development (Prohibition of Onshore Hydraulic Fracturing) Bill passed the final legislative stages in the Seanad.

The session included the committee, report, and final stages that took place in the Seanad chamber, where the gallery was full of supporters of the ban. It now requires only the signature of President Michael D. Higgins to become law. This is expected in the coming days. read full story / add a comment

Environmental group reacts to court ruling that grants Ryanair leave to participate in runway challenge

The High Court today allowed Ryanair to participate in a legal challenge being taken by Friends of the Irish Environment against Fingal County Council's decision to extend the permission granted in 2007 for a third runway at Dublin Airport. Ryanair, which originally opposed the third runway, now supports it and came to court claiming it had a financial interest in the runway going ahead.

FIE Director Tony Lowes commented: "We are deeply concerned that Ryanair, a company which denies the existence of climate change has now been accepted as a party to these proceedings. We are concerned that the court’s decision will skew the proceedings away from the environmental impacts of aviation towards commercial considerations. read full story / add a comment

We are delighted to see the Green Party launch their Waste Reduction Bill 2017. The Bill calls for much needed practical steps to combat plastic pollution. A deposit refund scheme is outlined for glass and plastic bottles and a complete ban sought on single use non-recyclable plastics, such as disposable cups.

We are aware more than most in Zero Waste Ireland that the issue of plastic pollution is a massive global challenge and a blight on our own country. According to the Green Party, every year, over 110 million tonnes of plastic is produced. Of this, up to 43% ends up in landfill. read full story / add a comment

Originally appeared on June 8th
Today marks World Ocean Day 2017, a global day of celebration honouring the world’s oceans and an opportunity to appreciate, conserve and protect our marine life and habitats.

This year’s conservation focus is on preventing plastic pollution and marine litter, encouraging solutions for healthier seas.

And rightly so. A widely cited study by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation for the World Economic Forum warns that by 2050, there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish.

A separate report in the journal Science estimates that 8 million tonnes of plastic enter the oceans each year – the equivalent of one truckload per minute. One researcher for the study likens this amount to lining up 5 grocery bags of rubbish on every foot of coastline around the globe. read full story / add a comment

Minister Dennis Naughton, TD, Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, has been urged to support a United Nations Convention’s ruling requiring suspension of work on the new Hinkley Point UK nuclear reactor until a transboundary Environmental Impact Assessment [EIA] is completed.

The first new nuclear station to be constructed in the UK since 1995, Hinkley C is a 3.2GW nuclear power plant composed of two reactors. The power plant will generate 7% of UK's electricity if constructed. The UK position is that “the likely impacts determined through a thorough EIA do not extend beyond the county of Somerset and the Severn Estuary”.

The Espoo Convention, signed by Ireland in 1991, requires that the opportunity for comment provided to the public of potentially affected Parties is ‘equivalent to that provided to the public of the Party of origin’. read full story / add a comment

An accident has occurred at the Covanta operated Poolbeg incinerator last night (Wed 7 June) which resulted in the hospitalisation of 11 construction workers.

Reports indicate the cause of the incident was an uncontrolled cloud of lime released inside the flue gas treatment area, which breached a door seal and engulfed the workers, resulting in reports of breathing difficulties, feelings of nausea and blurred vision.

Lime, a highly alkaline, caustic and irritating material with potential to cause blindness and serious respiratory issues, is used in incinerators to ‘clean’ harmful compounds such as dioxins and furans from flue gasses. read full story / add a comment

Even though this is more than 1 week old, we are reposting it here to demonstrate how the state is going out of it's way to facilitate Indaver in their attempts to push through this incinerator in Ringaskiddy, Cork.

Bord Pleanala has advised that the additional information supplied by Indaver is considered to contain significant additional data in relation to the effects on the environment of the proposed Ringaskiddy incinerator and have invited submissions from observers during a six week period to close 21 July 2017 at 5.30pm.

This material was submitted at the invitation of the Bord who on making a fourth decision deferral in March 2017 invited Indaver to submit additional information on flight paths and an opportunity to correct their erroneous dioxin figures, exposed on the final day of the Oral Hearing held in April/May 2016. read full story / add a comment

A Judicial Review brought by Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE) alleges that the Chief Executive of Fingal County Council failed to provide satisfactory explanatory reasons for granting the extension to the original decision to allow a third runway at Dublin Airport. FIE alleges that the record shows that the Chief Executive was fully aware that the extra runway would result in increased greenhouse gas emissions, in contravention of the objectives of the 2015 Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act read full story / add a comment

On Saturday morning, a group of 25 people entered the terrain of gasoline trader Vitol in the Amsterdam harbour, forcing a suspension of all activities on the terrain. Their message: Stop the export of toxic gasoline to West-Africa – and end the era of fossil fuels.
Report on Toxic Gasoline read full story / add a comment

Bord Pleanala have failed to meet their current deadline of 22 March for a decision on the Ringaskiddy incinerator application ( http://www.pleanala.ie/casenum/PA0045.htm ) and are to defer for a fourth time in order to request further information from the applicant, Indaver Ireland. No new date has been set. read full story / add a comment