Tipperary Site Included On Environmental Protection Agency’s National Priority Sites List

The Environmental Protection Agency has published a list of National Priority Sites for 2024. These sites are businesses and licensed operators who fail to meet EPA standards in certain areas. This list also allows the Environmental Protection Agency to effectively enforce their regulations in these premises for the benefit of the environment.  

Ways in which the listed operators fail to meet standards include a lack of infrastructure for the protection of groundwater and surface water, a non-hazardous waste transfer station and no anaerobic digestion facility. Intensive farming facilities are also listed due to increased risk of contaminated discharge from waste and storm water sources.  

In the list published for 2024, Tipperary Co-operative Creamery Limited has been identified as one licensee which needs to be directly targeted by the Environmental Protection Agency due to issues with discharges to water and infrastructure.  

Speaking about the publication of the National Priority Sites list, Dr. Tom Ryan, Director of the EPA’s Office of Environmental Enforcement said:  

“Our enforcement activities are risk based and we prioritise sites that are not complying with their licence. As noted in the EPA’s recent State of the Environment Report, a disproportionate number of sites on the National Priority Sites list have been from the dairy processing and waste sectors. This trend continued in Quarter 3 2024. The seven sites on the current list will be the subject of targeted enforcement action to ensure that the environmental issues are addressed, and compliance is restored.” 

On the specific risks posed by non-compliant licensees on the list, Pamela McDonnell, Programme Manager of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Industrial Licence Enforcement Programme added:  

“Three of the sites on the National Priority Sites List, North Cork Co-Op Creameries Limited, Tipperary Co-operative Creamery Limited, and Aurivo Consumer Foods Limited, are milk processing sites. Each of these has featured on the National Priority Sites List previously. Milk and milk effluent pose a significant risk to local streams and rivers if it is not carefully managed. The dairy sector must prioritise investment in environmental controls to prevent the discharge of polluting material. This remains a priority issue for the EPA”.