In March, An Bord Pleanála granted Aughinish Alumina Limited permission to expand. The Russian-owned company operates an alumina refinery on the Shannon Estuary, near Foynes in Limerick. It refines around 1.9 million tonnes of alumina per year, according to its website. Alumina is a critical component of aluminium. It applied for permission to expand its bauxite residue disposal area, its salt cake disposal cell, its borrow pit, and to carry out upgrade and restoration works on existing infrastructure. The planning application was referred directly to An Bord Pleanála as the national planning body had already determined that the project qualified…

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