Proposal to Increase the Range and Quantity of Alternative Fuels and Alternative Raw Materials
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EIS Non-Technical Summary May 2016 Proposal to increase the range and quantity of alternative fuels and alternative raw materials at Quinn Cement, Ballyconnell, Co. Cavan. EIS Non-Technical Summary For inspection purposes only. Consent of copyright owner required for any other use. Prepared by: May 2016 Enervise Limited i EPA Export 25-05-2016:01:00:34 EIS Non-Technical Summary May 2016 Table of Contents Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................................... ii 1.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 3 2.0 Proposed Project .................................................................................................................................... 4 2.0 Policy and Alternatives ......................................................................................................................... 6 3.0 Environmental Assessment ................................................................................................................. 6 3.1 Geology ................................................................................................................................................ 7 3.2 Water Environment ............................................................................................................................ 8 3.3 Air Quality .......................................................................................................................................... 9 3.4 Noise .................................................................................................................................................. 10 3.5 Landscape .......................................................................................................................................... 11 3.6 Ecology .............................................................................................................................................. 11 3.7 Traffic ................................................................................................................................................. 12 3.8 Natural Resources ............................................................................................................................ 13 3.9 Human Beings: Socio Economic ..................................................................................................... 13 3.10 Cultural Heritage ............................................................................................................................. 14 4.0 Conclusions .......................................................................................................................................... 15 For inspection purposes only. Consent of copyright owner required for any other use. Enervise Limited ii EPA Export 25-05-2016:01:00:34 EIS Non-Technical Summary May 2016 1.0 Introduction This Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) accompanies a planning application being submitted to Cavan County Council to increase the range and quantity of alternative fuels and alternative raw materials for use at the Quinn Cement Works, Ballyconnell, Co. Cavan. The Quinn Cement site is located immediately to the south of the Fermanagh/Cavan border, approximately 2 km north of the centre of the Town of Ballyconnell, Co. Cavan and 6.5km south of the village of Derrylin, Co. Fermanagh. The precise location of the site’s application area can be seen from Figure 1. For inspection purposes only. Consent of copyright owner required for any other use. Figure 1: Site Location Enervise Limited 3 EPA Export 25-05-2016:01:00:34 EIS Non-Technical Summary May 2016 2.0 Proposed Project The proposed project seeks to improve the sustainability of the Ballyconnell cement plant, through the use of an increased range of waste derived alternative raw materials and fuels with the long term aim of displacing almost all fossil fuels at the plant (a limited proportion of fossil fuels will be required during process start up and for process optimisation/stabilisation). The use of these alternatives will equate to 300,000 tonnes per annum at maximum substitution. A range of suitable materials are proposed for acceptance at the plant which can be summarised as follows: Solid Fuels – including Solid Recovered Fuel (SRF) which is currently authorised for use at the plant, as well as a range of suitable fuels derived from other sources including: o Meat and Bone Meal (MBM); o Tyre Derived Fuel (TDF); o Biomass Fuels; o Sludges and Filter Cakes. Liquid Fuels – including Secondary Liquid Fuel (SLF) which is a blend of For inspection purposes only. Consent of copyright owner required for any other use. organic and solvent wastes blended to a defined specification as well as liquid fuels derived from other sources (e.g. waste oils). Alternative Raw Materials (e.g. muds, minerals, sludges). The full range of waste derived fuels must be authorised with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and it is also proposed to include natural gas and petcoke as additional fuels in the Industrial Emissions (IE) Licence, regulated by the EPA. This is to provide flexibility for any future fossil fuel requirement. The proposed development, to which this Planning Application relates i.e. the land use development, is for the physical engineering alteration to the plant in order to Enervise Limited 4 EPA Export 25-05-2016:01:00:34 EIS Non-Technical Summary May 2016 accept the introduction of alternative fuels and alternative raw materials as direct replacement for coal and virgin raw materials respectively. The proposed plant changes are set out at Table 1 below. This Table also indicates where the equipment was previously authorised under planning reference (09/456) which has now lapsed. This permission allowed for the use of Solid Recovered Fuel (SRF) at the plant but some of the equipment was not constructed in 2014 when the Quinn Cement plant was under different management. The current management view it as essential in order to maximise coal displacement with alternative fuels. For this reason, the current application is seeking planning permission for this equipment once again, albeit in some instances with minor modifications to the proposals put forward in 2009. The below proposed structures are highlighted in green on the planning drawings. Equipment Requirement Previously authorised under Planning Ref: 09/456 Bunded Liquid Fuel tanks SLF and other liquid No and associated feeding fuels Storage system For inspection purposes only. Consent of copyright owner required for any other use. Meat & Bonemeal silos and MBM Storage No associated feeding system Lime silos and associated Reduce SOx emissions No feeding system Extension to existing SRF and other Solid Yes, albeit slightly modified in Storage bays and associated Alternative fuels this planning application feeding system (footprint reduced). Induced Draught (ID) Fan Process Yes, no change. Calciner Process Yes, albeit slightly modified in this planning application (elevation reduced). Table 1: Proposed New Equipment Enervise Limited 5 EPA Export 25-05-2016:01:00:34 EIS Non-Technical Summary May 2016 2.0 Policy and Alternatives In order to improve the sustainability of the existing Ballyconnell Cement Plant by using alternative fuels and alternative raw materials, it is not possible to propose an alternative location for this to occur. It must be at the existing cement plant. The plant is currently fuelled by a combination of coal and Solid Recovered Fuel (SRF) – a fuel derived from the portion of municipal solid waste that cannot be recycled. The SRF is sourced locally from waste management contractors but the coal is sourced from South Africa. The delivery of coal over such great distances is considered to be unsustainable, hence why Quinn Cement want to further replace the fossil fuels used with a wider range of alternative fuels. The EIS has reviewed relevant policy and legislation in relation to planning, waste management and energy efficiency at an international, national and local perspective and finds that the proposed project contributes positively in this regard. 3.0 Environmental Assessment The EIS considers the various elements of the proposed project, including the transport of the alternative materials, the engineering changes required to the plant For inspection purposes only. Consent of copyright owner required for any other use. and the use of the alternative materials in the context of the potential impacts that could arise for the various aspects of the environment. It identifies suitable mitigation measures, if necessary and appropriate, to ensure that the development would have no significant or unacceptable adverse impacts. A number of specific environmental aspects have been identified for in-depth study as follows: Water Environment Air Quality and Climate Noise Ecology Enervise Limited 6 EPA Export 25-05-2016:01:00:34 EIS Non-Technical Summary May 2016 Traffic Impacts Other less significant areas that have been considered include Geology, the integration of the proposed alteration into the Landscape, Natural Resources, Cultural Heritage and potential for Socio Economic Impact. A summary of each of the above is provided in the following sections: 3.1 Geology This chapter of the EIS deals with the geological setting of the site in terms of solid geology and drift geology