Mr Patsy McGlone (Mid Ulster): To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs to detail any reasons why the NI Environment Agency has withdrawn their advice on pollutant discharge levels to the Dalradian Goldmine Public Local Inquiry. [3 Day Priority]
Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs: The NIEA provided draft discharge consent limit values, on a without prejudice basis, to the Planning Appeals Commission (PAC) as part of the Public Local Inquiry (PLI) proceedings.
During preparations for discussions on the Water and Water Ecology topic at the PLI, the NIEA identified inconsistencies in the modelling used to derive the proposed values. The issue was identified by the NIEA and reported to the PLI at the earliest opportunity.
The NIEA continues to engage fully with the PLI process and to provide specialist advice to the PAC on the potential impacts of the proposed water discharges. The withdrawal relates to the affected draft discharge consent limit values and not to NIEA’s wider participation in, or provision of advice to, the PLI.
ENDS
