Wexford - The Irish Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has published figures for the release and transfer of pollutants in 2007. The Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (PRTR) compiles data on 91 specific substances or “pollutants” in off-site transfers of both hazardous and non-hazardous waste as well as in emissions to air, water and waste-water. The specific pollutants are recorded by activities licensed by the EPA and certain non-EPA licensed activities above specified reporting thresholds, and registered by the EPA.

Commenting Dara Lynott, Director of the EPA’s Office of Environmental Enforcement, said: “The register is a useful tool for tracking trends in emissions over time and for providing information to the general public. However, the register is not an inventory of all emissions, nor is it an assessment of compliance by operators of their licences, permits or authorisations."

And she added: "The PRTR will allow the EPA and the general public to maintain close and informed attention to changes to pollutant releases and other observed trends over the coming years.Industry will benefit from full engagement with the PRTR and related forthcoming reporting initiatives in a number of ways, in particular in fostering better understanding and relations with their local communities and the wider public.”

The EPA has submitted the Irish PRTR to the European Commission for inclusion in the European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (E-PRTR) for the Reporting Year 2007, due out on 9 November 2009. This was the first reporting year under the E-PRTR. The E-PRTR is an annual report to the European Commission of the emissions and off-site transfers of waste from Irish industrial and waste management facilities. In turn, the Commission is providing public access to the data from Ireland and from all Member States of the EU via its PRTR website, to be launched on 9 November 2009.

Comparison of the content of the 2007 E-PRTR with the results of the two EPER inventories must be done with some caution, as the structure of the two mechanisms are substantially different. However, with that limitation, it is seen that the number of facilities reporting has fallen, from a total of 183 above at least one EPER threshold, to 168 - in spite of the inclusion of additional reportable sectors.

The number of individual releases (emissions) reported from all facilities is 409, an increase of 70 percent on the EPER 2004 report, strongly reflecting the inclusion of the urban waste-water plants as a new reporting category.

The figures reveal the continuation of a number of highly positive trends, with significant decreases in the emission of several significant pollutants from industrial and waste facilities. In particular, the continuing reductions in the emissions of carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides and sulphur dioxide is to be welcomed.

The data demonstrate a consistent and considerable increase in most substances in discharges to water. This is clearly and very largely due the inclusion of the six largest urban waste-water treatment plants in the country for the first time. These plants are, as expected, very much the major sources of inputs to Irish waterbodies, as they are in other countries in Europe and around the world.

The detailed 2007 E-PRTR data submission from Ireland and from other countries in Europe will be available on the EPER website from 9 November 2009.

A summary of Ireland’s 2007 European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (E-PRTR) Report can be downloaded under epa.ie.

Quelle: Environmental Protection Agency

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