September 11, 2021
Ireland

Report says land stability at Derrybrien not properly checked since 2005

By GBFM News | September 10, 2021 | connachttribune.ie

A new report says the stability of the land where a massive landslide occurred at Derrybrien Wind Farm in 2003 has not been properly checked in over 15 years.

The state is currently paying €15 thousand in fines every day to the European Commission over failures to carry out an adequate Environmental Impact Assessment.

In October 2003, during the construction phase at the 70 turbine development, a massive landslide occurred.

It dislodged almost half a million cubic metres of peat and caused significant damage to land, property, roads and rivers.

In 2008, the European Court of Justice ruled against the Irish Government over the failure to properly carry out an Environmental Impact Assessment.

As a result, the state is paying €15 thousand in fines every day until the issue is resolved – with works still ongoing to bring the long-running saga to an end.

According to the Irish Independent, almost €10.5m in fines have been paid out so far, with outstanding sums due bringing the total to €15m.

Now, it’s claimed a new report for the European Commission has found that the stability of the land where the landslide occured has not been properly checked since 2005.

It also questions how areas classified as being of “unacceptable risk” in 1998 when the project began, were reclassified last year as being of “negligible risk”.

The report is broadly critical of a retrospective application for substitute consent made by the ESB – which owns the wind farm – to An Bord Pleanala.

It questions the ESB’s view that the wind farm has not, and will not, result in significant adverse impacts – and criticises an alleged insufficient impact analysis on wildlife.

An apparent contradiction has also been highlighted – that the ESB has erected signs warning people not to cut peat because the ground is unstable.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2021/09/11/report-says-land-stability-at-derrybrien-not-properly-checked-since-2005/