Clean-up bill for pharmaceutical giant's Clare site reaches €95.6m
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The clean-up bill for Swiss pharmaceutical giant, Roche’s former Co Clare manufacturing site now totals €95.6m in what the company describes as “one of the largest remediation projects of its type in Europe”.
New accounts show that Roche Ireland Ltd recorded losses of €42.93m in 2023 as its decommissioning and remediation spend concerning its decision to exit manufacturing here continued to mount and now totals €95.6m over four years.
A recent phase of the clean-up has involved the removal of 17,500 tonnes of contaminated soil and sending it, in 674 sealed containers, to a licensed thermal treatment facility in Holland.
The plant was once one of the most prestigious places of employment in the Midwest and the Swiss-owned pharma giant announced its decision in 2016 to shut down its Clarecastle plant with the loss of 240 jobs.
After the firm failed to secure a buyer for the pharma site, it set about decommissioning the site and demolishing its fine chemical manufacturing plant "to a brownfield status”.
The 2023 Roche Ireland Ltd loss of €42.93m followed losses of €26.15m in 2022 which relate to the environmental spend. The new accounts show that the company’s ‘environmental’ spend last year totalled €38m — almost a threefold increase on the environmental spend of €13.1m in 2022.
A spokeswoman for Roche Ireland said on Wednesday that the project spend “is a very significant capital project being undertaken by Roche Holding AG", the company’s ultimate parent.
The Irish unit during last year received a €43m capital contribution from a connected Roche entity and this followed a capital contribution of €31m in 2022.
The Clarecastle Site Decommissioning Project commenced in 2020 and site remediation work will continue until the end of 2027 followed by groundwater treatment and monitoring until 2029.
Between 50 and 100 people are employed by contractors engaged by Roche to carry out the works. An employment level of this range is expected to continue for the duration of the project.
The company confirmed on Wednesday that the first two phases are complete, with the final site remediation phase underway. The final phase, which involves the remediation of specified areas as well as the removal of the legacy landfill, is scheduled to be completed by year-end 2027.
The third, and smaller area, will be remediated by a process known as in situ thermal treatment, eliminating the requirement to transport contaminated soil off-site, thereby reducing the number of truck movements through Clarecastle village.
Area Two of the remediation phase relates to an historic landfill, covering an area of approximately 24,000 square metres and will involve the excavation of around 150,000 tonnes of material.
Commenting on the company’s Decommissioning Project, Project Owner, Roche Clarecastle, Joe Murphy said: “In line with its corporate values of respecting the community and the environment, Roche committed to return the site to the region, following the successful completion of the decommissioning project.
“Delivering on that commitment, which goes beyond just legal requirements, will incur significant costs to ensure we deliver the project in an exemplary manner while adhering to strict environmental standards. As we carry out one of the largest remediation projects of its type in Europe, minimising the impact on the community is a key consideration for us.”
The demolition phase of the project involves the destruction of 10 buildings, 300,000m of covered office/buildings, and approximately 210km of pipework being removed.