Restoration of Sand and Gravel Quarry at Boherkill, Rathangan, Co Kildare
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BOHERKILL SAND AND GRAVEL QUARRY RESTORATION MAY 2016 Restoration of Sand and Gravel Quarry at Boherkill, Rathangan, Co Kildare. Environmental Impact Assessment Report prepared by Raphael Mc Evoy of RME Environmental For inspection purposes only. Consent of copyright owner required for any other use. Rev. Status Author Reviewed By Approved By Issue Date D01 Draft Raphael Mc Evoy Deirdre Smith RME 24/04/2016 D02 Draft Raphael Mc Evoy Deirdre Smith D Smith 05/04/2016 D03 Draft Raphael Mc Evoy Deirdre Smith RME 06/05/2016 1 EPA Export 22-12-2016:02:04:51 BOHERKILL SAND AND GRAVEL QUARRY RESTORATION MAY 2016 TABLE OF CONTENTS NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY 1 INTRODUCTION 5 1.1 PROPOSED RESTORATION SCHEME 5 1.2 THE SITE 6 1.3 LAND OWNWERSHIP 7 1.4 THE APPLICANT 8 1.5 PLANNING HISTORY 8 1.6 PLANNING CONTEXT 9 1.7 ENVIRONMENTAL GAIN 24 1.8 ALTERNATIVES 24 1.9 CONTRIBUTORS 27 2 DESCRIPTION OF PROPOSED RESTORATION SCHEME 28 2.1 PRINCIPAL ELEMENTS 28 2.2 SITE INFRASTRUCTURE 29 2.3 RESTORATION AND RECOVERY ACTIVITIES 35 2.4 WASTE ACCEPTANCE AND HANDLING 41 2.5 ENVIRONMENTAL NUISANCE CONTROL 43 2.6 ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING 45 2.7 FINAL RESTORATION AND AFTERCARE 48 2.8 CONTINGENCY ARRANGEMENTS 48 3 HUMAN BEINGS 49 For inspection purposes only. Consent of copyright owner required for any other use. 3.1 INTRODUCTION 49 3.2 RECEIVING ENVIRONMENT 49 3.3 IMPACT OF RESTORATION WORKS 49 4 ECOLOGY FLORA and FAUNA 56 4.1 INTRODUCTION 56 4.2 RECEIVING ENVIRONMENT 58 4.3 IMPACT OF THE RESTORATION SCHEME 61 4.4 CONCLUSIONS 63 5 SOILS AND GEOLOGY 63 5.1 INTRODUCTION 63 5.2 RECEIVING ENVIRONMENT 64 5.3 BASELINE ENVIRONMENTAL STUDY 65 5.4 ASSESSMENT OF IMPACTS 67 2 EPA Export 22-12-2016:02:04:51 BOHERKILL SAND AND GRAVEL QUARRY RESTORATION MAY 2016 6 WATER 71 6.1 INTRODUCTION 71 6.2 SCOPE OF WORKS 6.3 SITE LOCATION 72 6.4 EXISTING SITE ACTIVITY 73 6.5 TOPOGRAPHY 73 6.6 METEOROLOGY AND WATER BALANCE 73 6.7 HYDROLOGY 75 6.8 GEOLOGICAL SETTING 76 6.9 SOILS AND SUBSOILS 76 6.10 DEPTH TO BEDROCK 76 6.11 HYDROGEOLOGICAL SETTING 76 6.12 CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF THE AQUIFER 79 6.13 SITE WATER MANAGEMENT 80 6.14 RISK ASSESSMENT 81 6.15 POTENTIAL IMPACTS 84 6.16 MITIGATION MEASURES 85 6.17 THE “DO NOTHING SCENARIO” 87 6.18 INTERACTION WITH OTHER IMPACTS 88 6.19 CONCLUSION 88 7 AIR QUALITY 89 7.1 INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY 89 For inspection purposes only. 7.2 STUDY METHODOLOGYConsent of copyright AND ASSESSMENTowner required for any otherCRITERIA use. 89 7.3 RECEIVING ENVIRONMENT – AIR 91 7.4 CLIMATE 96 7.5 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PROPOSAL 98 7.6 POTENTIAL IMPACTS OF THE PROPOSAL 99 7.7 “DO NOTHING SCENARIO” 104 7.8 REMEDIAL OR REDUCTIVE MEASURES 104 7.9 PREDICTED RESIDUAL IMPACTS OF THE DEVELOPMENT 106 7.10 MONITORING 107 7.11 RE-INSTATEMENT 107 8 NOISE 108 8.1 INTRODUCTION 108 8.2 REPORT STRUCTURE 108 8.3 EXISTING RECEIVING ENVIRONMENT 108 8.4 DEFINING THE EXISTING NOISE ENVIRONMENT 111 8.5 SCREENING AREAS OF LOW BACKGROUND NOISE 114 8.6 APPROPRIATE NOISE CRITERIA LIMITS 114 8.7 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PROPOSAL 114 3 EPA Export 22-12-2016:02:04:51 BOHERKILL SAND AND GRAVEL QUARRY RESTORATION MAY 2016 8.8 NOISE PREDICTION METHODOLOGY 117 8.9 POTENTIAL NOISE IMPACTS 118 8.10 MITIATING MEASURES 119 8.11 RESIDUAL NOISE IMPACTS 120 8.12 RECOMMENDATIONS 120 8.13 CONCLUSIONS 121 9 CULTURAL HERITAGE 121 9.1 INTRODUCTION 121 9.2 RECEIVING ENVIRONMENT 123 9.3 ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE 128 9.4 DEVELOPMENT IMPACTS 128 9.5 MITIGATION MEASURES 129 9.6 PREDICTED IMPACTS 130 9.7 RESIDUAL IMPACTS 130 10 LANDSCAPE 131 10.1 INTRODUCTION 131 10.2 BASELINE ENVIRONMENTAL STUDY 131 10.3 ASSESSMENT OF IMPACTS 134 10.4 MITIGATION MEASURES 137 10.5 PHOTOGRAPIC REPRESENTATION OF VISUAL IMPACTS 137 11 TRAFFIC 138 11.1 INTRODUCTION 138 11.2 RECEIVING ENVIRONMENT 138 11.3 PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT 141 11.4 MITIGATION MEASURES 141 11.5 CONCLUSION 142 For inspection purposes only. Consent of copyright owner required for any other use. 12 MATERIAL ASSETS 142 12.1 INTRODUCTION 142 12.2 RECEIVING ENVIRONMENT 142 12.3 IMPACT OF RESTORATION WORKS 143 12.4 MITIGATION MEASURES 144 12.5 CONCLUSIONS 144 APPENDICES Appendix 1.0 Ecology Report (Roger Goodwillie & Associates) Appendix 2.0 Appropriate Assessment Screening Document (Roger Goodwillie & Associates) Appendix 3.0 Chapter on Soils and Geology IE Consulting Appendix 4.0 Chapter on Water IE Consulting Appendix 5.0 Air and Climate Report (Odour Monitoring Ireland) Appendix 6.0 Noise Report (Fitzsimons Walsh EnvironmentalnLtd) Appendix 7.0 Cultural Heritage Report (Byrne Mullins & Associates) Appendix 8.0 Landscape Photomontages (Kildare Architects) Appendix 9.0 Traffic Report (Transportation Planning Services Ltd) 4 EPA Export 22-12-2016:02:04:51 BOHERKILL SAND AND GRAVEL QUARRY RESTORATION MAY 2016 SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 PROPOSED RESTORATION WORKS This Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is drafted to assess the proposed environmental impacts possible and arising from the proposal to carry out a full restoration of a sand and gravel quarry located at Boherkill, Rathangan Co. Kildare. The Quarry is in the ownership of the applicant Mr Michael Ennis and has been operational for the past 13 years under the operational stewardship of Kildare Sand and Gravel Ltd. The facility has operated in full compliance with the existing planning permissions and has never had any issues regarding the management of the quarry from regulatory or locally concerned stakeholders within the lifetime of the facility. The primary aim of the proposal is to bring soil and stone and associated other fill materials to the site over a 10 year period to ultimately bring the site back to its previous agricultural use. The location of the application site is indicated on an extract from the 1:50,000 scale Ordnance Survey Discovery series map of the area, reproduced as Figure 1.1. For inspection purposes only. Consent of copyright owner required for any other use. FIG 1.1 SITE LOCATION MAP(i) FIG 1.2 SITE LOCATION MAP(ii) 5 EPA Export 22-12-2016:02:04:51 BOHERKILL SAND AND GRAVEL QUARRY RESTORATION MAY 2016 This proposal provides for the importation, placement and capping of approximately 1,500,000m3 of inert soil and rock and inert construction materials (concrete, block, brick, paving stones, granular fill, ceramics etc.). The inert materials will be imported by permitted waste contractors. 1.2 THE SITE 1.2.1 Site Location The site is located entirely within the townland of Boherkill, Rathangan, Co. Kildare, approximately 3km south-east of Rathangan Co Kildare on the R401 National Secondary route way and 5.5km north-west of Kildare Town. Irish National Grid Coordinates (E269919, N217476). The plan extent of the lands owned Mr Michael Ennis is outlined in blue on a 1:10,560 scale map of the area, reproduced as Figure 1.3. The plan extent of the application site is also outlined in red on the same figure. 1.2.2 Site Description The total land ownership boundary encompasses an area of 24.5Ha. The lands surrounding the site are generally agricultural in nature with a small number of dwellings located along local R401 road. The nearest town is Rathangan (3km south-west) and Kildare (5.5km east). The site is located at the foot of Dunmurray Hill, on lands sloping gently towards the west. The gravel pit is screened from the R401 road by a substantial and well established hedge line. The total site encompasses an area of 20.42hectares and is owned by the applicant Mr. Michael Ennis. The site is set on a saddle of land slightly elevated above Rathangan and the flat lands to the west, and at the foothills of higher ground in Dunmurray Hill and Red Hill. The character of the landscape is that of a rich pastoral landscape, up to a line high on Dunmurray Hill, above For inspection purposes only. which there is a mixture of establishedConsent of copyright deciduous owner required woodland for any other and use. semi-mature coniferous planting. Land within the holding of the applicant (east of the R401), and adjoining this holding, has had many of the traditional field boundaries removed over the years to facilitate intensive tillage farming, however many traditional field boundaries remain and mature hedgerows are dominant in the overall landscape, notably as perceived in views from the public road. 1.2.3 Site Access Access to the site is to/from the main Rathangan - Kildare Newbridge road Regional Route R401. Although the road is generally characterised by its meandering, undulating nature, it is a regional route with a typical width of 5.5 metres and site visibility lines at the site entrance are acceptable. 1.2.4 Surrounding Land Use The application site and existing sand and gravel quarry is located largely in an agricultural area. There are a number of isolated residences in the area immediately surrounding the existing facility. The surrounding land use activities are largely agricultural with a mix of tillage and grazing activities predominant. 6 EPA Export 22-12-2016:02:04:51 BOHERKILL SAND AND GRAVEL QUARRY RESTORATION MAY 2016 1.3 LAND OWNERSHIP The lands within the application site are fully owned by Mr Michael Ennis, the applicant. The estate of Mr Ennis is in his full owner of approximately 24.5 hectares. For inspection purposes only. Consent of copyright owner required for any other use.