Meat and dairy processing sites were among the industrial sites licensed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) which received the most inspections over 2023, according to the agency’s latest summary of industrial and waste licence enforcement.

A Kildare site of Arrow Group Ltd, of which Dawn Farm Foods is a subsidiary, received the second most EPA site visits of any licensed facility last year.

It received 26 inspections – the equivalent of one every fortnight.

Tipperary Co-Op Ltd received 16 inspections over the year, while the figure for Arrabawn Co-Op Ltd and North Cork Co-Op Ltd stood at 11 and 10 site checks respectively.

All of sites mentioned above were named on the agency’s list of national priority sites for 2023, with North Cork Co-Op Creameries Ltd and anaerobic digestion facility Timoleague Agri Gen Ltd being carried over into 2024’s list.

The reason for Arrow Group Ltd appearing on the list was listed in the summary as being “odour and noise”.

The report noted that Arrow Group Ltd had been taken off the list for the first time since it was first published in 2017.

Investment

The move was the result of a “focussed enforcement effort” by the EPA and investment by the company.

It was one of 50 sites to appear on the priority list, with over two-thirds of these being in the food and drink and waste sectors.

Four dairy co-ops were on the priority list as a result of “discharges to water”: North Cork Co-Op Creameries Ltd, Arrabawn Co-Op Ltd, Aurivo Consumer Foods Ltd and Tipperary Co-operative Creamery Ltd.

Peat extraction

The EPA requested information 30 times from five local authorities where peat extraction is occurring and carried out 29 inspections of peat extraction sites.

Its licence enforcement summary stated that 2023 saw the first successful district court prosecution for extracting peat without a licence.

This was one of only 22 district court cases initiated by the EPA which concluded over the year, with the agency being awarded a total of €137,750 in fines and costs of €245,047 in its legal proceedings taken in 2023.