April 1, 2019
Ireland

EU seeks €1.7m fine over landslide wind farm

Seán McCárthaigh, Senior Ireland News Reporter | The Times | April 1 2019 | www.thetimes.co.uk

Ireland could face a minimum fine of almost €1.7 million over the dislodged peat from the Derrybrien wind farm
JOE O’SHAUGHNESSY

The European Commission is asking the EU’s top court to impose large fines on Ireland over its failure to comply with a 2008 ruling on a wind farm where a two-kilometre landslide killed 50,000 fish.

Ireland could face a minimum fine of almost €1.7 million over the Derrybrien wind farm in south Galway. Tonnes of peat, dislodged during construction, polluted the Owendalulleegh river in October 2003, causing lasting damage to fish spawning beds.

The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled in 2008 that Ireland had failed to fulfil its obligations as an EU member state because it had not carried out any assessment of a project that was likely to have significant effects on the environment before granting it planning permission.

[rest of article available at source]

(((( o ))))

[The Politics of Peat: Lessons from the Derrybrien Landslide,
published by the Scottish Wind Assessment Project]

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2019/04/01/eu-seeks-e1-7m-fine-over-landslide-wind-farm/