#DublinPort - More details have been requested by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as it assesses Dublin Port's plans to dump 10 million tonnes of "seabed material" in the Irish Sea off Howth.
As previously reported on Afloat.ie, Dublin Port wants to dredge its navigation channel as part of its bid to attract next-generation cruise liners that rivals Dun Laoghaire's own controversial cruise berth plans.
Both projects have prompted concern over the effects of such large-scale dredging and dumping operations in Dublin Bay, an area only designated this past summer as a UNESCO biosphere reserve.
And as The Irish Times reports, the EPA has received 700 submissions on Dublin Port's application alone, with local residents, divers, the fishing industry and conservationists united in their opposition.
Now the EPA has requested a full environmental impact assessment under the EU habitats directive, as well as a revised Natura impact statement, before it further consider's the port company's proposals.
The Irish Times has much more on the story HERE.
