Aughinish Alumina given €2.1m in public funding to…

Aughinish Alumina given €2.1m in public funding to treat 'red mud' dump near the Shannon

Aughinish Alumina has been given €2.1 million of public money to treat its ‘red mud’ dump on the banks of the River Shannon.

The bauxite refinery has operated in Limerick since 1983 and is now the largest of its kind in Europe producing 1.9 million tonnes of alumina a year.

Its parent company, Rusal, is part owned through En+ by Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska who escaped EU sanctions following the war on Ukraine.

Ireland’s Business Post reported at the weekend how IDA Ireland gave it €2.1 million this year for work that “goes beyond union standards for environmental protection”.

It comes just three years after a row over €10 million in tax breaks for Aughinish Alumina, which the European Commission ruled was “illegal” state aid in 2019 and ordered the government to recover the funds.

Concerns have also been raised about An Bord Pleanala's recent decision to greenlight the metal refinery’s expansion on Aughinish Island, Askeaton.

The permission allows it to raise the height of the mud lake where the bauxite residue is disposed of to 44 metres, the “hazardous” salt cake (a by-product of the process of purification of the caustic soda liquor used in the alumina extraction process) disposal cell to 35 metres and blast rocks to extend the ‘borrow hole’.

Locals fear blasting at the Shannon Estuary site could send waste sliding into the sea, sparking an environmental catastrophe at the Special Area of Conservation.

But the appeals board said the planning permission “would not be prejudicial to public health and would be acceptable in terms of its impact on the amenities of the area”.

Members of Futureproof Clare are outraged at the approval.

Sinead Sheehan said: “The Shannon Estuary is a Special Protected Area and we at Futureproof Clare can not comprehend how rock blasting and accumulating even more toxic red mud can be justified.

“This decision makes a complete mockery of any attempt to conserve biodiversity in the midst of a crisis. Futureproof Clare will be appealing the decision.”

Ecojustice Ireland also condemned the decision.

A spokesperson said: “We will be assisting Futureproof Clare in their appeal and their further preparations to submit a case to the International Tribunal on the Rights of Nature regarding the abuse of the River Shannon and our vital water supply.”

Aughinish Alumina employs around 480 full time staff and a further 385 contractors.

An Environmental Impact Assessment on its expansion application said unless expansion permission was granted the company would not be able to operate past 2030.

IDA Ireland has been contacted for comment.

An Bord Pleanala and Aughinish Alumina were also contacted for comment about the expansion, but did not respond.