Feathers fly over cost of chicken waste disposal

Local MLA Thomas Burns had asked the Agriculture Minister how much it would cost to dispose of the waste if the incinerator was not built. In response Michelle Gildernew, estimated the cost to be 90 per tonne, with some 200,000 tonnes of chicken waste being produced each year in Northern Ireland.

However, local residents have disputed the figures, claiming the cost for disposal in the Republic of Ireland is just €12 a tonne!

Ray Clarke, Chairman of CALNI said: "We estimate potential disposal costs to be in the region of 3 million to 5 million per year. This is based on the cost of chicken litter disposal in the Republic of Ireland, currently atapproximately€12 per tonne, with a considerable safety factor.

"The figures speak for themselves. DARD is suggesting a figure of 18 million per year, almost nine times what it would cost to dispose of a similar quantity of chicken litter in the Republic of Ireland today.

"The 90 per tonne litter disposal cost is fantasy. It looks to us like an attempt to provide justification for an inappropriate project."

However, a spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture said the cost quoted by the Minister relates to the disposal of poultry litter in the Netherlands.

He went on to explain: "Some limited capacity has been identified at the Moerdijk power plant and this option would involve transporting poultry litter there by road and sea.

"Currently approximately 43,000 tonnes of poultry litter per year are disposed of by exporting to the south of Ireland. This is used in mushroom compost and for land spreading as an organic fertiliser on arable crops.

"However, there is no scope to expand this disposal route as no additional capacity for these options in the south could be identified. The constraints of the Nitrates Directive also apply there along with additional controls on the application of phosphorus. These limit the land available for spreading poultry litter, which has a high phosphorus content relative to other livestock manures.

"DARD had not estimated an annual cost as a viable option with sufficient capacity has not yet been identified. DARD continues to explore all possible options for the disposal of poultry litter," he concluded.

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