Haulbowline Island ~ toxic waste health risk

What's the delay with the new "Haulbowline site report"? - Coveney

2008-08-21T09:39:00.001+01:00

Simon Coveney TD (FG)
20 August 2008

Fine Gael's Spokesman on Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Simon Coveney TD, Cork South Central, today (Wednesday) called on the Minister for the Environment to publicly clarify what he and his Department are doing to reassure people in Cork Harbour about the hazardous waste at the Haulbowline former Irish steel site.

"The problems at the Haulbowline site haven't gone away. The hazardous and toxic waste that remains in the site is still of real concern to people living and working in the Cork harbour area. While political pressure on this issue for Minister Gormley abated in recent weeks, due to his promise of a new site evaluation and reports on air and water quality, people are now impatient for results. The new report was promised in early July and was due to be completed within a month. Yet we've heard no evidence from the Minister to reassure people that the site poses no continuing threat to public health.

"The Minister promised two things, to reassure people following the public outcry after a series of concerns were expressed about the danger to public health and the marine eco-system posed by toxic waste at the site. He said he would undertake a rapid and comprehensive new assessment of the site and he promised a public health audit for the surrounding area. He continues to say that there is no risk to public health, but people simply don't believe him in the absence of hard evidence. All of the previous assessments and reports on the site point to a real and significant risk.

"The Minister needs to update local residents and local public representatives on the progress being made in evaluating the site and on the health audit. Either he can prove that no risk exists or we all need to face up to the reality of the dangers and clean the site up as soon as possible.

"The Irish Steel site is unique in that it is the only former steel manufacturing site in Ireland and therefore it needs to be dealt with as a once-off large scale clean-up project. I am convinced, based on past reports, that this site does pose risks to health and the environment and that the only solution to this expensive problem is the complete removal of all hazardous material from the site. I will be happy to be proven wrong by an up-to-date site assessment, but I doubt that will be the case".

Source

Indaver ‘a step nearer to building incinerators’

2008-08-01T22:58:00.000+01:00

By Sean O’Riordan
Irish Examiner 1 August 2008

WASTE processor Indaver claims yesterday’s Supreme Court decision has brought it a step closer to building two incinerators in Cork harbour. Following the ruling, the company said it is hopeful it could clear a High Court challenge by objectors and have the toxic and municipal waste incinerators, worth €150 million, operational in Ringaskiddy by 2013.

About 30,000 objectors, led by Cork Harbour Alliance for a Safe Environment (CHASE), are taking a High Court challenge on the decision by An Bord Pleanála to grant Indaver planning permission.

However, CHASE sought to have the High Court case adjourned, because the European Court is investigating if Ireland has failed to implement strict EU laws on environmental impact assessments. CHASE claims Indaver has failed under these laws to submit a proper health and environmental assessment for the project. The Supreme Court decided yesterday not to grant the adjournment.

“Indaver welcomes the decision as we want it to proceed through the system. We’re now one step nearer. We plan to build both of the incinerators together,” said a company spokeswoman. She said the company was hopeful the CHASE High Court challenge would be overcome, as had a similar objection to an Indaver’s project for an incinerator in Meath, building of which is to start later this month. “Much of the arguments [to be put forward by CHASE] will be similar. We are hopeful that the Meath decision has set a precedent,” she said.

However, CHASE chairwoman Mary O’Leary remains defiant. “I would not presume to pre-empt a High Court judge’s decision. We don’t need a municipal waste incinerator as Cork County Council will have ample capacity at its Bottlehill landfill for the next 20 to 30 years.”

Indaver wants the toxic waste incinerator to handle up to 100,000 tonnes of hazardous waste per annum.

“That is way over capacity and it could lead to the importation of hazardous waste,” she added. “The toxic waste uncovered on Haulbowline has proved a wake- up call for Cork harbour, and has underlined a situation where the relevant authorities have failed to protect the community and the environment,” said Ms O’Leary.

Source

Irish Steel consultants fail to check toxicity

2008-07-29T23:23:00.001+01:00

Irish Examiner 29/7/08

CONSULTANTS charged with assessing the level of contamination at the former Irish Steel plant in Cork Harbour have not sought a report on the extent of hazardous toxins shipped from the site to Germany.

This emerged yesterday at a Cork County Council meeting when Councillor Tim Lombard (FG) said he was horrified to discover this oversight when he questioned the consultants. The Irish Government was alerted to the potential hazard a couple of years ago, when German authorities who tested the exported waste found it highly toxic. "I was most alarmed when I found this out. The consultants said they hadn't asked for a full breakdown of the German report and agreed it was a good idea to do it. It's absolutely farcical," Mr Lombard said.

Meanwhile, calls were made on Minister for the Environment John Gormley to resign amid claims that he was failing to come clean about the true level of contamination. Labour's Cllr John Mulvihill said he was disgusted that the Green Party minister had refused to meet a delegation of politicians on a visit to Dublin last week. Instead the delegation met with consultants who are monitoring the Haulbowline slag heaps, which were found to contain the highly carcinogenic chromium 6.

There was some surprise when Fianna Fáil's Cllr Deirdre Forde said Minister Gormley should consider his position, especially as FF county councillors aren't known to criticise members of their junior coalition partners so openly.

"If people in Dublin think this is going to be brushed under carpet they haven't banked on Mulvihill," the Labour councillor added.

Cllr Kevin O'Keeffe (FF) found widespread support when he asked the council to write to Minister Gormley seeking a meeting.

Mr Mulvihill asked county manager, Martin Riordan, to provide a report on what tests, if any, had been done on some of the recycled slag taken from the site and used for building roads. Mr Riordan promised to provide him with a report. He said the recycled slag was used as chip on roads from 2000-2002. "We had no reason to believe there was any cause for concern," Mr Riordan said.

Source

Moustache forever? O'Dea answers your questions

2008-07-28T23:34:00.002+01:00

By Paul O'Brien, Political Correspondent
Irish Examiner 28/7/08

THE need to "tighten the belt" because of the economic squeeze should not mean cutting anybody's wages - politicians included, Defence Minister Willie O'Dea has said.

In the first of a new series in which Irish Examiner readers get to quiz members of the Cabinet, Mr O'Dea answers questions on a wide range of issues today - from the Lisbon Treaty to The Simpsons television show.

... Elsewhere, Mr O'Dea says there are no indications that the toxic waste at the former Irish Ispat/Steel plant in Haulbowline, Co Cork, poses a threat to those working on the naval base which is in close proximity.

When demolition of the steelworks at the plant commenced in 2005, dust-monitoring equipment was installed.

"The data collected to date does not suggest that activities on the steelworks site have had a significant impact on the environment or might pose a threat to the Naval Services at Haulbowline," Mr O'Dea says.

As a precaution, the Department of Defence has hired consultants to carry out soil and air analysis across the naval base.

... What health concerns from toxic emissions would you, as Minister for Defence, have in respect of Indaver's proposed site for a toxic and municipal incinerator being so close to our Navy in Haulbowline, Co Cork, and at the entrance to the new National Maritime College, bearing in mind that the prevailing winds are mostly from the south-west?

M BOWEN, Glenville, Co Cork

The proposed waste management facility at Rinagskiddy has been the subject of a most vigorous examination by both Cork County Council and An Bord Pleanála in terms of the planning process and the Environmental Protection Agency in relation to the application for a waste licence. An Bord Pleanála attached 27 stringent conditions to its planning permission. I am satisfied that the various agencies involved in consider- ing this project have had due regard to the likely impact of the facility on the locality and that all concerns have been addressed.

Both the decision of An Bord Pleanála and the waste licence are the subject of judicial review by the High Court, so I cannot really comment any further.

Can you give assurances that the toxic waste buried on the old Irish Steel/Ispat site on Haulbowline poses no threat to the navy?

D McCARTHY, Bishopstown, Cork city

The health and safety of all Defence Force personnel and employees is of primary concern to me. There is currently no indication that the situation at the former Ispat site represents any risk to the health of Naval Service personnel or civilian employees at the naval base.

When demolition of the steelworks at Haulbowline commenced in the summer of 2005, it was agreed by all interested parties that dust monitoring equipment be installed on the naval base. The monitoring equipment selected and installed in two locations on the base includes Bergerhoff dust deposition gauges, to record total dust fall-out on a monthly basis, and PM-10 monitors to record the respirable fraction of fine dust in real time. In layman's terms, this means that dust-generating events on the steelworks site can be identified and controlled as they happen.

The data collected to date does not suggest that activities on the steelworks site have had a significant impact on the environment or might pose a threat to the Naval Services at Haulbowline.

Purely as a precautionary measure - following the excavations on the East Tip - we have engaged environmental consultants RPS Group plc. They will carry out sampling and conduct soil and air analysis across the naval base checking for heavy metals and other species. This investigation has already commenced. It is expected to be completed by the end of August.

Full article

Workers 'should blow the whistle'

2008-07-21T23:36:00.001+01:00

By Ralph Riegel
The Independent 21/7/08

FORMER Irish Steel workers have been urged to provide whatever information they can about toxic materials on Haulbowline Island amid concerns that a "code of secrecy" surrounds goings-on at the steel mill over the past 50 years.

Now, former Irish Steel/Irish Ispat workers have been asked to supply whatever information they can -- on an anonymous basis if required -- to assist in the full site assessment of the Cork island. The call from environmental groups came as one former Irish Steel worker described as "frightening" the quantity and nature of material disposed of at the site over the course of five decades.

Environmental groups now want specific information to be passed on the Department of the Environment and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) about precisely what was disposed on Haulbowline Island and where it was dumped.

However, one former Irish Steel worker admitted that former staff have been reluctant to comment on precisely what happened at the mill for a number of reasons. The man -- who asked to be unnamed -- said that Haulbowline Island was the focus of so much toxic material that it ranked as "a mini-Chernobyl".

"You have to remember that fears about the future of the Irish Steel jobs were first raised more than 20 years ago. People were worried that if they made waves about what was going on, it might cost everyone their jobs," he said.

Source

Council to release documentation on Haulbowline

2008-07-17T23:37:00.001+01:00

Cork Independent 17/7/08

CORK County Council is to release documentation relating to the former Irish Ispat site at Haulbowline Island to seriously concerned councillors, writes Mary O'Keeffe.

Cllr John Mulvihill put forward a motion at this week's meeting of Cork County Council requesting that all documentation the Council had in their possession relating to the site be released, amid rising concerns about the possible health implications of the facility for people working on the site and living in the lower harbour area,

According to Cllt Mulvihill, everyone in the harbour area is very concerned about the recent revelations about the Ispat site and of the failure to clean up the area immediately. He described how an agreement had been made as far back as 1996 to build a retaining wall around the East tip of the site to ensure that the contaminants were not washed into the sea, and how 12 years later this had still not happened.

The angered councillor strongly criticised the government's failure to cleab up the site and said that this must be expedited immediately. "We have a major, major problem in Cork harbour at the moment," he said, adding "we (Corporate Policy Group) requested a meeting with the Minister, Cobh Town Council requested a meeting with the Miniater and the Minister said he'd be down in the autumn and he might meet then. This is not good enough, I want the Green Minister Gormley to come down now."

His sentiment was echoed by councillors across all parties who held the same concerns about the site. Sinn Féin Cllr Martin Hallinan said, "The dogs on the streets of Cobh were aware that something was not right in Haulbowline for many years. By not coming down, Mr Gormley is giving us, the elected representatives, the two fingers" while Fianna Fáil's Cllr Alan Coleman said that it would (sic) common sense and political sense for the Minister to meet with a cross party delegation from Cork.

The County Manager agreed to circulate any documentation about the site to councillors after Cllr Mulvihill's motion was passed. He confirmed to councillors that hazardous waste sent from the site had bee transported by boat to two ports in germany and that material from the site had been used in road repairs in 2000, 2001 and 2002 but, said he believed that this wasn't a cause for concern.

Source: Cork Independent, 17 July 2008

State sold Haulbowline steel plant on the basis it was not polluted

2008-07-14T23:39:00.001+01:00

The Irish Times 14/7/08

In 1995 the FG-Labour coalition gave buyer Ispat an assurance that the site complied with environmental laws, writes Frank McDonald, Environment Editor

THE FINE Gael-Labour government of 1995 gave the buyers of Irish Steel an undertaking that there was no pollution on site.

The Irish Steel plant on Haulbowline Island in Cork Harbour was sold by the State to Ispat in 1995 on the basis that it complied with environmental laws - even though the then government had been alerted to a build-up of dangerous wastes.

An investigation of the plant's landfill site, carried out for Irish Steel by engineers KT Cullen in 1995, found samples showing high concentrations of copper, chromium, cadmium, lead and zinc, up to 17 times acceptable levels. The investigation also found "elevated levels of metals" in harbour sediments adjacent to the landfill. Under a 1981 planning permission granted to Irish Steel, there were no controls on the material being landfilled or on containing leachate from the tip.

It is clear from documentation seen by The Irish Times that the main priority at the time Irish Steel was sold to Ispat for the nominal sum of £1 was to preserve 300 jobs at the plant for at least five years. The sale agreement, signed by then minister for finance Ruairí Quinn TD (Labour) and minister for enterprise and employment Richard Bruton TD (Fine Gael), specified that Ispat would face penalties of £10,000 per job in any year if the number of jobs fell below 300.

A clause in the agreement included a statement that, so far as the minister for finance was aware, Irish Steel "has at all times complied with the terms and conditions attaching to any environmental licences in the conduct of its business . . . the company has not produced, handled, stored, transported or otherwise treated or dealt with in any manner whatsoever on the property any substance, other than in accordance with environmental law and any applicable environmental licence".

Nevertheless, the coalition made a "capital contribution" of £2.36 million for environmental works to be carried out by Ispat, including the installation of a metal recovery plant and the construction of a retaining wall around the tip. This sea wall was never built; of the £2.3 million given to Ispat, it is estimated that only £600,000 was actually invested in environmental works.

Building the wall was one of the conditions of an integrated pollution control (IPC) licence in 2001.

Although Irish Ispat was known to be polluting the environment, it was not one of the industries to be scheduled for IPC licensing by the Environmental Protection Agency as a priority. It was not until 1999 - three years after taking over - that the company had to seek a licence.

Apart from requiring the construction of this retaining wall around the landfill, the licence specified reduced emissions of dust, dioxins and furans from the furnace, as well as "fugitive emissions" from slag handling on site.

It laid down that metal sludge then being deposited on the landfill would have to be "sent off site and disposed/recovered by an agreed hazardous waste contractor". This also applied to other hazardous wastes arising on site.

Irish Ispat decided to close down before the licence was issued, owing creditors €36.9 million. It was owned by Indian steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, who according to the Sunday Times Rich List, is worth £27.7 billion (€34.7 billion). The High Court found in July 2004 that the conditions attached to the IPC licence, granted in June 2001, were "onerous", particularly the requirement to build the sea wall at an estimated cost of £25 million.

The court case arose from an action by government ministers seeking to make Irish Ispat (then in voluntary liquidation) responsible for a clean-up. The State side issued a summons against the firm and Ispat International on May 21st, 2003, claiming damages for nuisance, negligence, breach of statutory duty, breach of contract and allowing escape of "deleterious matter".

Geraldine Tallon, now secretary general of the Department of the Environment, said in an affidavit there was "serious environmental pollution at the site in Haulbowline as a result of holding, recovering or disposing of waste by the respondents [Irish Ispat]".

The State was seeking to require Ispat to dispose of radioactive scrap and sources, demolish contaminated buildings, rectify the site's polluted drainage system and remediate the landfill site, including the removal of PCB (polychlorinated biphenyl) "hot spots".

But liquidator Ray Jackson argued that steel-making had been carried on for more than 60 years and it would be unfair if creditors had to bear the clean-up cost.

Judge Mella Carroll ruled that, because the licence was granted after Ispat had ceased production, its conditions could not be applied retrospectively. She also found the pollution was a legacy of 60 years of steel-making.

In 2005, after ownership reverted to the State, the Department of the Environment commissioned consultants White Young Green to investigate the site. They concluded that there was no "immediate threat" to human health or the environment. The same consultants have been engaged by John Gormley to carry out an "independent and rigorous assessment of site conditions following extensive unauthorised works by sub-contractors of Hammond Lane Metal Company Ltd".

This assessment, which started last week, will involve analysis of soil, slag, dust, surface and ground water samples. It is known that carcinogenic chromium 6 is present.

The site will have to be remediated. No one can say how much this will cost, but it is clear taxpayers will have to pay.

Source

Cork CoCo Meeting: Documentation on Haulbowline Island, Cork Harbour

2008-07-14T20:14:00.000+01:00

Cork County Council Meeting 14 July 2008

Minutes of Proceedings at Meeting of Cork County Council held in the Council Chamber, County Hall, Cork on 14 July 2008.

PRESENT

Councillor N. Harrington, County Mayor presided.

Councillors K. Murphy, Neville, Coleman, Sheehan, P.G. Murphy, O'Shea, Crowley, Kelly, Fleming, Ryan, Gilroy, McGrath, Forde, Canty, M. O'Keeffe, T. Lombard, Desmond, J A. Collins, K. O'Keeffe, O'Flynn, Pyne, O'Doherty, P. Buckley, Marian Murphy, Marie Murphy, N. Buckley, Donegan, Creed, Moynihan, Coughlan, Mullally, Fitzgerald, O'Connor, Sheahan, Hegarty, Mulvihill, N. Collins, Ahern, Hallinan, Murray, O'Sullivan, Collins, McCarthy, Carroll, O'Donovan, Daly.

County Manager, A/County Engineer, Senior Executive Officer

DOCUMENTATION ON HAULBOWLINE ISLAND, CORK HARBOUR
20/7-1

Councillor J. Mulvihill proposed, seconded by Councillor M. Hallinan, the following notice of motion:-

"That Cork County Council would make available all documentation that the Council have in their possession in relation to former Irish Ispat site at Haulbowline Island in Cork Harbour."

Members noted report from the Director of Corporate, Community & Economic Development, which outlined as follows:-

In July, 2003, Cork County Council agreed to implement proposals for the management and maintenance of the Irish Ispat Site at Haulbowline for and on behalf of the DoEHLG.

In December, 2003, a Steering Group was formed comprising of DoEHLG, EPA., DCMNR and Cork County Council.

The Steering Group met on 18 occasions in the period 2004 to 2006. The final meeting of the Steering Committee was on 27th June, 2006.

In 2004, a Contract was awarded to Hyder Consulting to act as clients representatives for arranging and assessing an Invasive Site Investigation at the site.

In June, 2005, White Young Green was retained to carry out an extensive subsurface ground investigation.

The White Young Green Report of December, 2005 was approved by the Steering Group at its meeting on 27th June, 2006.
White Young Green produced two additional reports on:
(a) Groundwater and Gas Monitoring Assessment
(b) Dust Impact Assessment.

I will arrange for these reports to be made available to Members of Council through Corporate Affairs.

At the Council's A.G.M. it was agreed to request the Minister for DoEHLG to:
(a) Clarify what arrangements were put in place by the Contractor for the transportation of all waste from the former Irish Steel Site;.
(b) Carry out a health impact study of Cork Harbour
(c) Release the findings of the Site Investigation Report of the former Ispat Site and publicise its findings.

Issues (b) and (c) have been responded to by the Minister in the Dáil.

Arrangements are being made to confirm the position regarding transfrontier shipment of waste. I can confirm that hazardous waste was transferred by ship to 2 no. Ports in Germany - Bremen and Hamburg between the period April, 2006 and May, 2008.

In addition, issues have been raised regarding the recycling of slag in road materials.

Cork County Council understands that recycled slag from the former Irish Ispat site was used as chip and was used on a number of road resurfacing projects in the County during the years 2000, 2001 and 2002. The use of recycled slag for chip is a legitimate operation and is widely used throughout Europe and the UK consequently. Cork County Council had no reason to believe that there was any cause for concern. No further use of recycled slag from the former Irish Steel site has occurred since mid 2002 following the takeover of the site by the State.

Based on the available information, Contractors engaged by Cork County Council used the chip from the recycled slag for surface dressing on a number of County Roads.

The Minister for the Environment in 2008 appointed White Young Green to carry out comprehensive testing to be completed over a 5 week period.

Arrangements will be made to have the report of White Young Green made available to Members of Council, on publication.

Councillor Mulvihill said he had a number of questions to which he was seeking answers.

* Whether agreement between Department of Finance and Irish Steel to construct a wall had been complied with;
* Have there been samples taken of the mud surrounding Haulbowline Island.
* Has the size of the Island been increased since steel construction commenced.

Councillor Mulvihill said that the people of Cobh have been let down by numerous governments and the Minister for the Environment has snubbed Cork County Council for his failure to meet with them.

The Manager said there are contractural issues which he would not comment on and said he appreciated that there is fear and anxiety and it was important not to add to that. He said up to now the report on Irish Steel was a matter for the Department but it has now been released by the Minister and he was prepared to make it available to any Member who wants it.

The Manager said in order to avoid confusion it was important that Members would put in writing what they want done.

Source

Toxic threat on Haulbowline island probed

2008-07-13T23:39:00.001+01:00

John Mooney
The Sunday Times 13/7/08

Inspectors from the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) have asked the government for copies of environmental reports which outline the type of toxic waste buried at Haulbowline island in Cork and the threat it poses

The HSA will examine whether the government and other state agencies took the necessary measures to protect council and construction workers employed to do works at the site of the former Irish Steel plant.

Scientific reports made available to the Department of the Environment have recorded the presence of toxic materials and PCBs, cancer-causing particles which are invisible to the naked eye, at Haulbowline.

It is not known whether staff employed to clean up the site used safety measures that anticipated PCB contamination or exposure to chromium, another toxic chemical found at the site.

The contractors hired to clean up the site say they were not provided with environment reports which indicated the presence of PCB toxins and other dangerous substances.

HSA inspectors visited the former steel works last week and asked council officials to erect fencing around certain areas for safety. The inspection followed complaints from residents and Stephen Griffin, an environmental consultant appointed to oversee the removal of waste from the site this year.

His contract was terminated last month, after he raised concerns of a health threat posed by toxic sludge at the site. Some 1m tonnes of toxic waste is believed to be buried on the island.

Source

Our poisoned paradise

2008-07-12T23:40:00.001+01:00

By Nicola Anderson
The Independent 12/7/08

The view from Mary O'Leary's garden, amid the drowsy drone of bees, is as beautiful as any you will find in Ireland: a wraparound vista of Cork Harbour with its gentle inlets, isles and vivid blue seas. Even the much-maligned Spike Island, site of a proposed new prison, has a ruggedly impressive charm all of its own.

A singular blot mars this breathtaking seascape and one which local residents are finding increasingly difficult to block from their vision, given what they now know about Spike's sister island, Haulbowline, where nothing grows on the black slagheap at the easterly 'nose'.

It stands as a barren and ominous reminder of the Irish Steel plant, which operated there for over 60 years as the home of Ireland's heaviest industrial activity and which locals who worked there remember as a 'Dante's Inferno'.

The residue from the steelworks is so toxic that some experts say it will take €350 million to clean up the site known as the East Tip. And the horrible irony for the neighbours of Haulbowline is that the same week their story caused a national outcry, the government outlined its most stringent cutbacks for two decades. The figure needed to clean up the island is almost identical to the €360 million Brian Cowen has announced will be slashed from "non-front-line programme expenditure".

Cobh is a town of strange contradictions. With its lofty, though scruffy, Victorian facades, legendary Titanic links and the pealing bells of St Colman's Cathedral, it could easily be the jewel in the crown of East Cork. But with none of the chi-chi restaurants and boutiques of a Kinsale or a Schull, the town has found itself oddly left behind, with residents telling of how tourists might briefly visit Cobh for its historical connections before being quickly bussed out elsewhere. And far more worrying than these monetary problems are recent reports that just half a mile across the water, Haulbowline's slagheap, constantly leaking into the harbour, contains the deadly carcinogen Chromium 6.

Exposure to toxic levels, as well as cancer, can cause liver, kidney, heart and respiratory disease.

Alarmingly, Cobh has a cancer rate more than 44pc above the national average, with, anecdotally, high levels of asthma among its children -- though local GPs warn more research would have to be done to definitively link these health problems with the Irish Steel slagheap.

Just as sinister, though equally impossible to pin down, are whispered reports of fishermen casting their lines into the harbour only to land a three-eyed fish or one with extra fins.

Peter Griffin of Louis J O'Regan Ltd, subcontractors employed to knock down the former Irish Steel buildings, discovered what was buried at the East Tip and spoke of watching pigeons who drank the water on Haulbowline becoming disorientated, keeling over and dying.

He revealed how soil samples sent from the northern shoreline were sent to a lab in the UK in December 2007 and one came back with 'huge levels of mercury', waste samples sent to Germany for disposal were found to have traces of Chromium 6, with traces of arsenic and zinc found in other samples.

Mary O'Leary, chairperson of the Cork Harbour Alliance for a Safe Environment (Chase) said local people are deeply frustrated with the lack of information made available to them by the authorities, claiming officials had known of the toxicity of the site since the early '90s but did nothing about it. As a mother of four, she says she is worried at the health risks posed by the dumping ground.

Over 100 pharmaceutical firms operate in a string around the Harbour area. They are also a cause of concern, with strange smells occasionally drifting across to Cobh but Mary said they are relying upon these companies to be good neighbours, given that they operate under strict licences.

Opened in 1939, the Irish Steel works employed 1,200 staff at its height, taking scrap metal from all over Europe for processing. One local man told the Irish Independent how, at the age of 17 during the 60s, he had rowed across the Harbour with friends in search of work. "After taking one look inside, I decided that there was no way in hell I could work there," he said, describing the heat of the furnaces and filthy conditions.

Local man Reynolds Forde did work there, as did his father before him. Gazing out across the harbour, he said: "They should put explosives on it and blow it up," adding: "If it's a threat, they're not doing much about it."

In 1996 Irish Steel was bought for the nominal sum of IRL ?1 by ISPAT, the steel company owned by billionaire Lakshmi Mittal and the steel plant operated until 2001 when its doors shut for good. The full extent of the pollution situation emerged when Hammond Lane Metal Company sub-contractors, Louis J O'Regan uncovered the potentially highly toxic sub-surface waste.

Peter Cunningham, Senior Licence Enforcement Inspector at the Environmental Protection Agency's Cork office, explained that the 'chicanery' surrounding the sale of the works in '96 meant ISPAT refused to pay for the clean up, the EPA no longer had a formal role in the monitoring or clean-up operation and sole responsibility fell upon the Department of the Environment.

"It's a very frustrating situation -- not helped by the fact that this material has been allowed to accumulate for 60 years," Mr Cunningham said.

"The problem is that there wasn't enough recognition at the time by the local authorities of the harmful nature of this material.

"It was considered sensible to stockpile it in the harbour. We now know better and the EPA is very concerned about the possibility of this material remaining there indefinitely." He added that they appreciate the fact that the clean-up will cost 'an enormous amount of money' but would be very concerned that any harmful materials would be allowed to remain in the harbour without any 'clear roadmap' for its removal.

Local Green councillor, Dominick Donnelly insisted that there is "nothing new" about the situation on Haulbowline. "It's the way things have been for a long time and people on the Harbour have now gotten a wake-up call with the mention of Chromium 6 getting people all excited but we've known there have been nasties out there for a long time.

"It's the slag from a steel mill -- it's got to be full of heavy metals. But I'd believe the levels are probably far lower now than when the steel plant operated."

As a Green Minister for the Environment, John Gormley has moved to address the fears. He has promised a peer review of a relatively reassuring 2005 report by consultants White Young Green, employed by the Department of the Environment to monitor the potential environmental hazards of the site.

Results are expected in the next four weeks. Kevin Cleary, a director at White Young Green said they will take samples of sediment, mussels and water on Monday, though: "physically, I'm not seeing any evidence of contamination and the water quality looks fine".

But he admitted: "If I was living there I would think concern was warranted."

Not everyone in Cobh is worried. Sean Parker, passing the time of day with two old friends by the quayside said he has been swimming in the harbour for the past 50 years with no ill consequences, while Ted McNamara, eating locally caught fish for the last 31 years says it's done him no harm.

The truth will only be revealed when the water gives up their secrets.

Source

Lenihan to have final say on toxic site

2008-07-11T23:41:00.001+01:00

Irish Examiner 11/7/08

FINANCE Minister Brian Lenihan will ultimately decide what is to be done with the former Irish Steel site in Haulbowline, Co Cork, the Department of the Environment said last night.

In a meeting last week, Environment Minister John Gormley was unable to guarantee local residents that budgetary concerns would not prevent the clean-up of the toxic site. Yesterday, Mr Gormley met with Cork TDs and the same issue arose.

Consultants are carrying out an investigation of the site which is expected to be finished in five weeks. Fine Gael TD Simon Coveney, who was at the meeting, said Mr Gormley was asked what would happen if the consultants found the site did present a threat to the health of local residents and the harbour ecosystem. "The minister said he could only make that judgment call when he got the report and went to cabinet after the summer," said Mr Coveney.

A spokesman for Mr Gormley confirmed this, saying: "The minister can't make false commitments without knowing the full extent of what the commitment would be and, in any case, it would be a government decision as well. The options he will be bringing [to cabinet] will only be options. It will be up to the Government, in particular the minister for finance, to make a decision on the remediation of the site."

Despite Mr Gormley's inability to give a commitment on this front, TDs who attended the meeting believed he was "sincere" in his desire to remedy the problem and praised his openness. However, they stressed more would have to be done to allay local concerns.

"This is about reassuring people that whatever needs to be done will be done and will be done expediently," said Labour TD Kathleen Lynch. "No one wants to live in a constant state of fear." She said it was essential that the proposed health study of local residents include both former Irish Steel workers and those who had worked in the nearby Verolme dockyard.

Mr Gormley said he would need sanction from the Department of Health for the health study, meaning its parameters cannot yet be determined.

Mr Coveney, meanwhile, questioned whether Mr Gormley and his department were correct in waiting for the site investigation to be completed before doing something about the toxic waste which had been disturbed.

The department was using a 2005 consultants' report to say the site posed no risk, yet contractors on the site until May of this year had warned of the need for "emergency treatment" of the waste, Mr Coveney said. "My concern is that those warnings haven't been taken seriously enough and that, instead, the department is using a three-year-old report as the sole basis for telling the general public that this site poses no threat."

Source

Road firm used Haulbowline material

2008-07-10T23:43:00.001+01:00

Irish Examiner 10/7/08

... Environment Minister John Gormley admitted to the Dáil on Tuesday that anecdotal evidence suggests inert slag material was removed from the site and used for roads while the steelworks was in commercial operation, and possibly also during the period when the liquidator owned the site.

But he said his department has no records of any materials being taken from the site since it took custody of the area in 2003.

Mr Gormley assured the Dáil that consultants White Young Green would carry out "an independent and rigorous assessment of site conditions following the extensive unauthorised works by the subcontractors".

He said the firm has the full benefit of the advice of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Marine Institute and the Health and Safety Authority in assessing the quality of surface water, marine sediment and mussel bivalves near Haulbowline Island, in assessing any health or environmental risks that may be posed by the recent works on the east tip, and in monitoring ambient air. Local TDs from Cork will meet with Mr Gormley to discuss the issue today.

Full article

Publish new Haulbowline site investigation

2008-07-10T16:41:00.001+01:00

Michael McGrath TD (FF) 10/7/08

Cork South Central Fianna Fáil T.D. Michael McGrath has called on the Minister for the Environment John Gormley T.D. to publish the report into the ongoing site investigation at Haulbowline Island as soon as it is completed. Deputy McGrath, along with his Cork Oireachtas colleagues, will be meeting Minister Gormley later today to discuss the ongoing site issues.

'I welcome the fact that White Young Green consultants are now on-site carrying out a detailed site investigation. I understand this investigation will be completed in approx. 4 weeks, and I will be asking the Minister to publish the report immediately.

'It is essential that the people living in the harbour area and the employees who work on or near the island are given reassurance that there is no risk to public health arising from the hazardous material on-site. This reassurance must be based on a comprehensive site investigation and I am pleased this work is now ongoing.

'I understand that Minister Gormley will be bringing a report to Cabinet on the future of the site. I am firmly of the view that local residents deserve to have full site remediation works carried out. There should be no long-term legacy of hazardous waste allowed to remain on the site.

'I will be conveying my concerns directly to Minister Gormley later today, and I will be asking him to continue to deal with this matter as a priority issue. I believe it is important that the forthcoming report is published promptly, and that the Department acts swiftly to implement any measures recommended by the consultants.

'The health, safety and welfare of local residents and people working on or near the island is my absolute priority, and I will ensure the Department continues to treat this issue with the priority it deserves,' stated Deputy McGrath.

Source

Navy calls for assurances of safety at Haulbowline

2008-07-09T23:44:00.001+01:00

By Ralph Riegel
The Independent 9/7/08

DEFENCE Force unions want safety assurances before any expansion of Ireland's only Naval base on to the former Irish Steel site, which contains toxic waste.

PDFORRA is now monitoring the environmental and health row over the clean-up operation at Haulbowline Island in Cork harbour amid disputed claims about the nature and volume of toxic waste stored at the island.

One contractor has claimed that potentially up to 500,000 tonnes of toxic waste remains at the former steel mill site -- some of which includes mercury, Chromium 6, zinc and even heavy metals. Environmental contractor Stephen Griffin said that the entire controversy could have been avoided if the concerns of his firm been properly acted upon.

Cork TD Ciaran Lynch (Labour) has now vowed to seek a Dail adjournment debate to clarify the claim that substantial quantities of slag material was apparently removed from Haulbowline for use in road construction.

Environment Minister John Gormley has already agreed to bring proposals to the Cabinet for a health study of the harbour after revelations from the National Cancer Registry of Ireland (NCRI) that cancer detections in Cobh were 44pc above the national average.

But Mr Gormley has denied that the former Irish Steel site poses a major public health risk.

The row has effectively suspended long-term plans by the State for Haulbowline Island to be transformed into a leisure and marine centre -- with smaller sections of the old Irish Steel site being handed over to the Naval Service.

Ireland's only Navy base is on the other half of Haulbowline Island. Navy commanders have been keen to secure additional "elbow room" at the site. However, Navy unions now want firm assurances about the environmental and health status of the land involved before any such expansion proceeds.

Source

Coveney seeks reassurance and clarification from Gormley on Haulbowline

2008-07-09T16:34:00.002+01:00

Simon Coveney TD (FG) 9/7/08

Opportunity to press the Minister on series of important issues arising from site.

To-day (Wednesday) I secured a meeting with the Minister for the Environment John Gormley to discuss the many issues still outstanding on the Haulbowline waste issue. I will meet the Minister in private along with other representatives from the Cork area tomorrow afternoon.

There are a series of issues that we still need clarity on regarding Haulbowline. We need to know for certain whether any waste from the site was used in road surfacing, and if it was, then where, in what quantity, and what measures were carried out to ensure it was not toxic.

We need to know why the Minister thinks it is appropriate to engage the same consultants who in 2005 produced the only report to date stating that there is no serious risk to public health from this site. Does he not think that there is a potential conflict of interest, and that people might be sceptical of a new report, if it is not done by entirely new consultants?

We also need to know the Minister’s opinion on the ‘high risk’ status awarded to the site by previous reports done by reputable environmental consultants, and whether he can give assurances to the naval personnel living and working on the island.

The Department has, as recently as last May, received warnings as to basic material at the site and the potential risk to public health. I intend asking the Minister whether he is satisfied that the response to the warnings has been acceptable and in line with responsible management of a dangerous site.

Finally, we need clarity on when the ‘base line’ health study will be completed in the harbour area and what communities in the harbour will be included.

I am glad that this meeting is now scheduled, and I look forward to discussing these issues with the Minister.

Source

Toxic dump contractor 'will not be silenced'

2008-07-07T23:46:00.001+01:00

Irish Examiner 7/7/08

THE man who blew the whistle on the Haulbowline toxic dump scandal has said he will not be silenced by the state's threat of legal action.

Environmental consultant Stephen Griffin vowed to continue to highlight what he describes as the "worst pollution incident in the history of the state". Mr Griffin was speaking last night after storm conditions swamped the toxic dump site in Cork Harbour with sea water over the weekend.

He said he was horrified when he saw the extent of the flooding of the contaminated East Tip dump site, at the edge of the former steel works plant. Gale force winds and high tides combined on Friday night to force sea water into the dump site.

The slag heap walls were also breached, allowing huge volumes of water to wash into the site and leach unknown quantities of contaminated materials back into the harbour. Mr Griffin said people should also be concerned about tidal waters seeping into the site from underneath.

"For an Environmental Protection Agency-licensed landfill, there has to be a five metre barrier between the dumped material and any watercourse," he said. "There isn't even a 1mm barrier on this dump site."

Mr Griffin is among several subcontractors who were involved in the removal of hazardous materials from the polluted island who have now been threatened with legal action by the Government.

They have been warned to respect a confidentiality clause in their terminated contracts and not release any documentation on work they did for the Department of the Environment on the former steel works site. But Mr Griffin, who came to the Irish Examiner to break the story almost two weeks ago, said he will not be silenced.

He revealed that he will spend more than €46,000 of his own money on independent and detailed soil analysis from the site to prove the extent and scale of the pollution. He also said that he is aware of a "concerted campaign" to blacken his name. "There is a concerted effort to shoot the messenger. But I will be sticking to the message," he said.

Mr Griffin confirmed he is a former commercial pig farmer who decided to get out of the business because he "couldn't stomach the environmental cost of the operation". Today, he lives by "green principles" with his wife and children in Carrigtwohill. They keep their own hens and ducks.

He said despite attempts to discredit him, he knows there is nothing anyone might produce that will prevent him from highlighting the Haulbowline scandal. "I just couldn't walk away from this one. I don't believe anyone would have done that."

Source

Doctors call for monitoring of chemical levels in people

2008-07-07T23:44:00.001+01:00

Marie O'Halloran
The Irish Times 7/7/08

A DOCTORS' environmental organisation has called for the establishment of a national "biomonitoring" study to establish the baseline level of chemicals in people's systems.

The Irish Doctors' Environmental Association said such a study would be particularly important for people living near landfill sites, incinerators and industrial facilities. Dr Liz Cullen of the association said there should be baseline monitoring of the population around Carranstown, Duleek to establish the current background level of contaminants - before work on a new incinerator in the area gets under way. "If we can afford incinerators, landfill sites and industrial facilities, then we must be able to afford the cost of monitoring the environment and public health," she said.

"If, God forbid, there was an accident or a release of chemicals, it is important to know the levels of chemicals in the population, and the change. Otherwise, we will never know there is any increase from any industrial or hazardous waste." The same should apply in Haulbowline, Co Cork - the site of a toxic waste controversy.

In the Dáil last week, Minister for the Environment John Gormley agreed a baseline health study for the area was to be recommended, in light of data from the National Cancer Registry which showed the incidence of cancer in the Cobh area was 44 per cent higher than normal. Mr Gormley is expected to bring proposals to Government about the health survey and the clean-up of the site in the autumn.

Biomonitoring - measuring the levels of chemicals in the body - should be done on a national basis as a random study, according to the association. Monitoring should not be on a voluntary basis, "as people who volunteer would be concerned about their health and most likely to eat organically and be fastidious", said Dr Cullen. She said the biomonitoring should follow the example of the US, where it is done on a regular basis.

She insisted that the study should include "a wide variety" of tests and be "comprehensive", including the taking of blood and fat samples and other tests, and that it not be limited in scope.

Dr Cullen, who has just completed a doctorate in climate change and health, is a public health doctor working in the area of infectious diseases.

At this year's agm of the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO), doctors backed a motion by the association chairman Dr Philip Michael, and Dr Cullen, to establish "registers of known relevant baseline data in the vicinity of new incinerators and landfill sites and, in addition, that active ongoing health surveillance systems, including bio-monitoring, be undertaken in these areas in order to detect changes in the incidence of sentinel diseases and the levels of biotoxins in the population". See www.ideaireland.org for details.

Source

Residents fear plant's toxic waste seeped into harbour

2008-07-07T12:57:00.001+01:00

The Irish Times 7/7/08

RESIDENTS OF Cobh in Co Cork have expressed concern that gale-force winds and a high tide may have caused potentially toxic waste from the old steel plant site on Haulbowline to seep into the sea at Cork Harbour. Cobh residents became worried on Friday night after a high tide and gale-force winds caused pools of water to form in the middle of the slag heap on the old Ispat site on Haulbowline.

Mayor of Cobh John Mulvihill jnr said local residents should not be expected to live in dread every time there was a high tide in the harbour.

He insisted that the situation needed to be addressed as a matter of urgency to allay public fears.

“The people of Cobh are in a vacuum regarding information. The Minister [John Gormley] said he was going to publish all the reports that were being done on the site back in the Dáil on Wednesday. I was talking to all our local TDs and they have not received any reports.

“That ought to raise some serious questions. We need to get these reports out in the open and let the people of Cobh know what is over there.

“We need to get the problem sorted out in the town.”

Mr Mulvihill added that he did not want to be alarmist, but that the people of Cobh “deserved better” from their elected representatives.

Meanwhile, local environmental engineer and councillor Marcia Dalton told RTÉ News that until full reports had been compiled in relation to the site, residents would continue to worry about the magnitude of the problem.

“This is not the first time since Ispat closed in 2001 that there have been strong easterly winds with high tides. This may have occurred before.

“Until we see analysis and we establish what is going on, we don’t know the magnitude of the concern we should have.”

The controversy arose in Cork last month after it was disclosed that almost 500,000 tonnes of waste are buried at the former Irish Steel/Ispat site.

Health fears were raised after a subcontractor involved in a surface clearance at the site claimed to have uncovered levels of a toxin, chromium six.

Mr Gormley has denied suggestions that there was any attempted cover-up of the Haulbowline toxic waste issue.

However, residents of Cobh said that they feared that pressure on the public finances could delay the clean-up of toxic waste at the site.

Source

Concern over focus of investigation into Haulbowline site

2008-07-05T23:49:00.003+01:00

Barry Roche and Olivia Kelleher
The Irish Times 5/7/08

A SOLICITOR acting for residents of the Cork Harbour area has expressed concern about the focus of a report commissioned by the Department of the Environment into the remediation of the former Irish Steel plant at Haulbowline Island.

Joe Noonan, who advised Cork Harbour Alliance for a Safe Environment, said the 2005 report by consultants White Young Green for the department seemed very focused on possible uses for the site rather than the immediate risk it poses to health.

"The report seems to have a very limited purpose. Rather than providing a comprehensive assessment of its current impact on health and the environment across the site, it seems very focused on assessing its impact on future developments," he said.

White Young Green divided the 20-hectare site into two parts for examination - the main steel plant adjacent to the naval base and the East Tip, which had been built up over decades by dumping slag from the plant on the foreshore.

However, the examination was confined to areas outside the steelworks buildings, resulting in some 50 per cent of the main steelworks site being excluded from the investigation, which involved sampling of soil, groundwater and marine sediment.

The consultants assessed each part of the site for elements like arsenic, cadmium, lead, nickel and dioxins and for possible future use including residential, public open space and commercial/industrial.

They concluded that there was a moderate risk to human health and environmental receptors in the event of a residential or open public space use, while they assessed the risk as low to moderate if the site was remediated for commercial/industrial use.

"It is considered that the most feasible development solution from an economic and technical view would be a commercial/industrial use for the main site and a public open space use for the East Tip," it states.

The authors recommend capping the East Tip area using standard earth layer and high-density polythene. They estimate the cost of the capping work at €7.52 million.

They also recommend further investigation in areas not investigated such as under building slabs, more testing for dioxins in the East Tip area and asbestos in the built-up area of the main site as well as further tests for landfill gases such as methane. However, Mr Noonan said the fact that 50 per cent of the site was not investigated was a cause for concern, while he also questioned what the department had done to implement the recommendations.

"The consultants acknowledge the limitations of their initial investigation and recommended further site investigation," he said. "This report was completed in 2005 and yet none of these recommendations have been acted upon." Fine Gael spokesman on health Dr James Reilly warned that the Government would expose the State to litigation if it failed to order an immediate independent health impact assessment of the site.

Meanwhile, Cork Labour TD Ciarán Lynch has written to Minister for the Environment John Gormley seeking clarification on suggestions that tens of thousands of tonnes of potentially toxic material may have been removed from Haulbowline to be used in the construction of roads.

Source

Polluted land was proposed for marina

2008-07-05T23:49:00.002+01:00

By Paul Melia and Olivia Kelleher
The Independent 5/7/08

THE Government proposed turning the contaminated Haulbowline Island in Cork harbour into one of the most "attractive waterside sites in Europe".

The plan was outlined just a year after a major report said the site posed a potential risk to human health, and would have included 200 apartments, a hotel, offices and a 225-berth marina.

The then enterprise minister, Cork TD Micheal Martin, announced in 2006 that a high-level group of senior civil servants would submit proposals to transform the former Irish Steel site into an "attractive place to live, work and do business".

But yesterday it emerged that officials have not made contact with the Department of the Environment to see what works need to be carried out to make the site safe, despite a 2005 report which outlined the possible risks to human health.

Investigations

It also emerged that four investigations have been carried out on the site, which is described as the most polluted in Ireland after 50 years of steel production.

Two reports were carried out between 1995-2002, with another 2002 study by Enviros Aspinwall carried out on behalf of the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources. It warned that the site posed a 'high' risk to human health, while a 2005 report for the Department of the Environment from White, Young, Green found there was a 'moderate' risk to human health if homes were built on the site.

Ambitious

Mr Martin's ambitious plan to redevelop the area has been put on hold, the Department of Enterprise said yesterday, saying that while the high-level group had met several times, the plan had been shelved pending further investigations.

Mr Martin was not available for comment.

Yesterday, Defence Minister Willie O'Dea also ordered a investigation into possible health risks for members of the Irish Navy serving at Haulbowline, to run in tandem with a separate study commissioned by the Department of the Environment.

He rejected opposition calls to provide health checks for serving members, saying the Defence Forces provided annual medical examinations and health screening and there was "no indication" that the site posed health risks to Naval Service personnel or civilian employees.

The Government was also warned by the Fine Gael health spokesman, Dr James Reilly, that it could expose the State to huge amounts of litigation if it failed to order an immediate independent health impact assessment of the Haulbowline site.

Source

What next for Haulbowline's poisonous steelworks?

2008-07-05T23:48:00.001+01:00

Barry Roche, Southern Correspondent
The Irish Times 5/7/08

Recent events at the former Irish Steel plant in Haulbowline, Co Cork, are a matter of dispute, but what matters to residents is that one of Ireland's most toxic sites is made safe as quickly as possible

IT MAY NO longer hum and hiss to the sound of molten metal being poured, but the former Irish Steel plant at Haulbowline has lost none of its capacity for creating controversy, as events over the past fortnight have shown with front-page headlines and heated debates in the Dáil.

While the dispute over the former site between contractors and the Department of the Environment has been marked by claim and counter-claim, both sides are pretty much in agreement that the former steel plant is one of the worst cases, if not the worst, of industrial pollution in Ireland.

In one sense, the only surprise about the issue is that anyone is surprised. After all, Irish Steel operated as a heavy metal industry for almost six decades, during which time environmental protection was scarcely a consideration, let alone a legislative requirement.

By the time the plant was closed in 2001 by its then owners, Irish Ispat, it had been operating for more than 60 years without any environmental monitoring. While the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a draft Integrated Pollution Control (IPC) licence in 2001, it was never implemented by Irish Ispat.

An attempt by the EPA in 2004 to compel the liquidator, Ray Jackson (of KPMG), to fund the clean-up of the site failed, leaving the State to foot the clean-up bill, which at the time was estimated to be around €30 million but which the contractors claim is likely to be 10 times that amount.

The contract for the first phase of the clean-up was awarded to Hammond Lane Metal Ltd, which in turn hired environmental consultant Stephen Griffin, of CTO Greenclean, to advise on the work, with Griffin subcontracting clearance work to Louis J O'Regan Ltd.

According to Griffin, Hammond Lane had demolished buildings on the site in 2005 and 2006, and in September/October 2007, Louis J O'Regan began work on removing the debris as part of its contract brief to "leave a clear, level, safe site" for remediation. The 20-hectare former steel-plant site, which is owned by the Department of Finance, can be broadly divided into two main sections: the main steel plant adjacent to the naval base and the East Tip, which had been built up over decades by dumping slag from the plant on the foreshore.

According to Griffin, work went well initially, but tests he had ordered on the material began coming back in December 2007 with readings that showed high levels of contamination for a range of heavy metals including zinc, mercury, nickel, cadmium and chromium.

Test results also began showing high levels of hydrocarbon-saturated soil in the East Tip area. In February, one of Louis J O'Regan's machines started to sink through an earth crust into an oil lagoon and the subcontractors had to excavate tonnes of oil-soaked waste to retrieve it.

According to Griffin, the Department of the Environment instructed him to put the oil-soaked waste back in the lagoon, but he refused to do so. He declared an emergency response situation and created an enclosed, bunded area using mixed dry soil to soak up the oil. This action led to a stand-off with the department, which, according to Griffin, advised that he cease further work and back-fill the contaminated lands still remaining. After taking advice from his health and safety consultant, Griffin refused to sanction such work.

According to Griffin, the health and safety consultant advised that he would be liable for any risk to workers and public arising from such back-filling and that there was no option but "to continue with the removal of all contaminants from the site".

The Department of the Environment has a different view of events, claiming that "following the uncovering by Louis J O'Regan Ltd of the sub-surface sludge pit of hazardous waste, a series of unauthorised works resulted as a consequence".

"Despite repeated instructions to stop these unauthorised works, including by letter from the Chief State Solicitor's Office on May 23rd 2008, the subcontractor continued to excavate significant volumes of buried hazardous material."

According to the department, the contract with Hammond Lane was, following legal advice, terminated with immediate effect on May 30th 2008, with instructions to vacate the site by 5pm on Tuesday, June 3rd.

The subcontractors refused and continued to operate without authorisation and in a piecemeal fashion, actions which the department claims caused a threat to the environment. They finally left the site following discussions with Hammond Lane Metal Company Ltd, according to the department.

THE CONTROVERSY, which broke in the Irish Examiner, has generated an angry exchange of claim and counter-claim regarding the hazardous waste. The debate is notable for its lack of precise detail as regards concentration levels of the various hazardous materials.

According to Griffin, some 100,000 tonnes of hazardous debris material were removed from the site and shipped to Germany in 41 shipments between December 2007 and early June 2008, and it was tests done in Germany on this material which raised concerns.

Griffin claims that these tests on leachate found levels of the carcinogen, chromium six, four times higher than what is deemed safe, while further tests done in the UK found that one sample contained mercury levels 26 times what is allowed in a legal lined landfill site.

Visiting Cork last week, Minister for the Environment John Gormley sought to reassure people living and working on Haulbowline and in the Lower Harbour area, while admitting that the full extent of hazardous waste on the site has yet to be established.

"It's very difficult to quantify how much hazardous material is there," he said. "We know that there were 50,000 tonnes deposited there every year for 10 years, so there's at least 500,000 tonnes, but you can never know until you bore down properly and start to remediate the site.

"Remediation is difficult because when you start to remediate you're digging up a lot of this stuff and you are exposing people, and this is where the dispute arose with this particular subcontractor and the EPA - and the department felt this digging was counterproductive."

Griffin, however, disputes this. "We were obliged in our contract to leave a clean, safe, level site for remediation, but there's no such thing as a clean, level, safe surface on Haulbowline because every time we took off surface layers, we found more layers of hazardous waste. "Our initial discussion was on the removal of about 15,000 tonnes of hazardous material, but when we hit 100,000 tonnes, people in Dublin became fearful about the cost, and the issue of unauthorised works came up simply because we were finding hazardous waste everywhere."

The Department of the Environment entirely rejects this version of events. "The nature of the material which was lying on the surface and which was the subject of the contract was clearly understood by the contractors before the work started," the department told The Irish Times yesterday.

John Gormley was unable to meet local residents during his visit to Cork, so he invited them this week to Dublin, where, following accusations of a cover-up by Griffin and Friends of the Irish Environment, he offered to make all reports on the site available to them.

His officials handed over the most recent official report, from 2005, by consultants White Young Green, which involved a site investigation focusing on two distinct main areas: the main site of the steelworks and the East Tip, where slag was dumped over the decades. Gormley subsequently announced that White Young Green is to go back to Haulbowline to provide an updated report on the site in terms of hazardous materials. He also agreed to a peer review of the consultants' findings.

Cork Harbour Alliance for a Safe Environment (Chase), which represents a number of residents' groups, has welcomed Gormley's commitment to make all reports available and his promise to go to Cabinet to seek funding for a baseline health study of residents in the harbour. While Chase acknowledges that the Department of the Environment is in a contractual dispute with Stephen Griffin and Louis J O'Regan over payment for clearance work on the site - a dispute which may end up in court - the residents' group says it still needs reassurance regarding the health risks.

Chase spokeswoman Mary Hurley was one of the residents who attended the Dublin meeting with Gormley this week and she reiterated the determination of residents to ensure that the Haulbowline site is made safe.

"We accept John Gormley's bona fides about giving us the reports, but we're more interested in what he's going to do to clean up the site," Hurley says. "There's a dispute between the department and the contractors, but we don't want the concerns of the community getting lost in that wrangle.

"The Minister told us that he has to go to Cabinet for funding for the clean-up. We believe the costs involved are going to be extensive if a proper job is to be done. This is about ensuring a safe, clean environment to protect people's health, and money should not be an issue."

Source

Department orders health risk analysis

2008-07-05T23:47:00.001+01:00

Irish Examiner 5/7/08

THE Department of Defence has ordered an environmental air and soil analysis at the site of the naval base in Haulbowline in Cork harbour to investigate if there's any threat to sailors from hazardous waste buried in the area.

The football pitch used by naval staff has been declared "out of bounds" by the department because of its proximity to the old steel plant where the toxic waste is buried.

The analysis work began on Wednesday by environmental experts, RPS, and is separate to work being carried out by the Department of the Environment.

Speaking in the Dáil on Wednesday, Fine Gael Cork South Central TD Simon Coveney said the head of the Naval Service had written to the Department of the Environment, "expressing serious concerns" about the health threat posed.

A Department of Defence spokesman said: "This department continues to accept the assurances of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government that there are no risks arising from the presence of the waste material. It is expected our survey by RPS will confirm this.

"The Naval Service has informed us its Health and Safety staff are in regular dialogue with the Department of the Environment concerning the remediation of the ISPAT site."

Labour TD Ciaran Lynch has written to Environment Minister John Gormley, looking for details on what happened to the toxic waste that was removed from the site. Mr Lynch is seeking clarity on suggestions that the waste was used for the construction of roads. "A substantial quantity of slag-heap material was apparently removed from the island over the past decade - but nobody seems clear on where the material went. There are now real concerns about such material being in contact with ground water," he said.

"I would like Minister Gormley to confirm whether or not material was removed from slag heaps at Haulbowline to be used in road construction and to indicate the quantity of material removed.

"I would also like to know whether that material was examined for toxicity and was whether it was treated. Minister Gormley should also identify the company that removed the materials, and provide an indication as to where it may have ended up."

Source

Areas of Haulbowline closed off pending health risk inquiries

2008-07-04T23:50:00.001+01:00

Mark Hennessy, Political Correspondent
The Irish Times 4/7/08

THE NAVAL Service has closed off part of its lands on Haulbowline while an investigation is carried out into the environmental dangers posed by the former Ispat steel plant.

It has also emerged that a consultants' report in 2002 warned that airborne pollution from the site could pose a high risk to the health of local residents.

The site at Cork Harbour has been at the centre of controversy since last month when it emerged that more hazardous waste may be buried there than previously thought.

The decision to put a football pitch used by sailors near the steelworks "out of bounds" was taken last week, a spokeswoman for the Department of Defence told The Irish Times last night.

The department last week hired environmental experts RPS to carry out soil and air tests, and staff from the company spent yesterday and Wednesday on the site taking samples.

Two previous analyses were undertaken at the naval base, in 2000 and by Bord Na Móna in 2005, while a number of air monitors are in place to detect airborne contamination. The monitors are situated at the dockyard, the base's church and the back of the hospital, which are near the steelworks, and also at the island's highest point covering the slag heap.

"To date no alarms have been noted," the Department of Defence said in a statement. "This department continues to accept the assurances of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government that there are no risks arising from the presence of the waste material."

It was expected that the survey by RPS would confirm this, it added.

The department said Naval Service health and safety officers were "in regular dialogue" with the Department of the Environment about the steelworks' future.

Speaking in the Dáil on Wednesday, Fine Gael Cork South Central TD Simon Coveney said the head of the Naval Service had written to the Department of the Environment, "expressing serious concerns" about the health threat posed.

The steelworks on the eastern side of Haulbowline were run by Irish Steel until the Government sold the plant to Ispat in 1997. Irish Ispat went into voluntary liquidation four years later.

It emerged yesterday that a 2002 investigation of the site carried out by consultants Enviros Aspinwall, released under the Freedom of Information Act and provided by Mr Coveney to The Irish Times, warned that there were "high risks" from windblown dust and leaks of poisonous material into ground and surface waters.

Enviros Aspinwall was commissioned by the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources to carry out a risk assessment on the steelworks after it was closed by Ispat. In its report, it warned that windblown dust from the slag heaps at East Tip on the island could pose a high risk to the naval base and across the channel to Cobh residents.

Describing the chances of this happening as "likely", the Shrewsbury-based consultants wrote: "The tip is unvegetated. Dusts present on the tip may be mobilised and blown by the wind." There was also a "high likelihood" that poisonous sediments would accumulate in marine soil, damaging sea life and posing a "high risk" to it, the consultants' report said.

Source

Kean to meet Haulbowline workers over health fears

2008-07-03T23:52:00.001+01:00

Irish Examiner 3/7/08

SOLICITOR to the stars Gerald Kean (pictured) has agreed to advise a number of men who are concerned for their health after working on the Haulbowline Island toxic waste clean-up.

Mr Kean, who represents several Premiership footballers and rock bands, will meet the men tonight to discuss their legal options.

The news emerged last night as Environment Minister John Gormley said he would recommend to cabinet a full baseline health study of residents in Cork Harbour after highly worrying cancer figures from the area were revealed.

The National Cancer Registry (NCR) data showed that Cobh town, which faces the former Irish Ispat steel plant, had cancer rates 44% above the national average from 1994 to 2005.

NCR researcher Dr Sandra Deady stressed, however, that there was nothing to link the findings to the former steel works. She said a wide range of cancers were diagnosed and the risk factors vary greatly depending on the type of cancer. She also said Cobh scored nine out of 10 on a "deprivation-index", the higher the score the higher the cancer risk.

But as the Irish Examiner revealed last week, traces of the carcinogen chromium 6, lead and mercury are among an estimated 500,000 tonnes of toxic waste buried on the island's East Tip site. It is breached by the tidal waters twice a day and winds blow dust across the harbour.

The men who worked on the stalled clean-up spoke out about their health concerns last night. One of the workers, who asked not to be named, said he has serious concerns about the health of up to 35 men, both Irish and non-national, after months of exposure to toxic materials.

He said contaminated soil was scooped up in a special bucket with holes and was riddled, or shaken vigorously, to separate rocks from fine dust. The dust was placed in trucks for shipment to Germany.

"This stuff, this dust, was airborne. It was being blown during the riddling, during transport and while it was stored," he said. "We want to know what we were exposed to, what was in the soil and what tests or screening we should get."

Mr Kean confirmed last night that he will meet a group of the concerned workers tonight at an undisclosed location in Cork. "They expressed their concerns and asked if could I meet them," he said. "They seemed quite upset and very genuine." Mr Kean's firm, Kean & Co, has been involved in several high-profile class-action lawsuits involving asbestos poisoning in the past. It is also involved in several MRSA cases.

Source

Haulbowline clean-up workers to receive legal advice

2008-07-03T23:51:00.001+01:00

Irish Examiner 3/7/08

A number of men who worked on the stalled clean-up of the former Irish Steel site in Cork Harbour have reportedly expressed serious concerns about possible risks to their health.

Reports this morning say the workers have spoken out about the methods used to remove contaminated soil from the Haulbowline site.

The soil was apparently scooped up in a special bucket and shaken vigorously to separate rocks from fine dust, which was then placed in trucks for shipment to Germany.

One worker is quoted this morning as saying the dust was airborne during the entire process.

Earlier this week, it emerged that the carcinogen Chromium 6 was discovered in the dust, along with traces of lead and mercury.

Environment Minister John Gormley has insisted that tests show there is no risk to public health in the area.

However, figures released yesterday showed a significant spike in cancer rates in nearby Cobh, though no link has been shown to the Hawlbowline site.

This morning's reports say the men who worked on the clean-up are set to receive legal advice from solicitor Gerald Kean this evening. His firm has been involved in several high-profile class-action lawsuits involving asbestos poisoning in the past.

Source

Residents fear costs may delay Haulbowline clean-up

2008-07-02T23:53:00.003+01:00

The Independent 2/7/08

Residents in Cork Harbour say they fear the pressure on the public finances may delay the clean-up of toxic waste at the site of the former Irish Steel plant in Haulbowline.

Last night, the residents met Environment Minister John Gormley to discuss their concerns about reports that the Government has halted the removal of hazardous waste from the site.

Instead, it has asked contractors to seal off the "lagoons" which contain the waste.

Mr Gormley assured the residents last night that there is no threat to public health, but they say they are still concerned that the clean-up will be delayed due to massive cost involved. Mr Gormley says he will be open about the situation at al times.

Source

Angry scenes in Dáil over toxic waste

2008-07-02T23:53:00.002+01:00

By Paul O'Brien, Political Correspondent
Irish Examiner 2/7/08

THE Dáil is likely to witness further heated exchanges today when it debates the issue of the toxic waste at the former Irish Steel plant in Haulbowline, Co Cork.

There were angry scenes in the chamber yesterday when the opposition raised the issue. Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said Junior Minister Maire Hoctor had informed the House last week that the site posed "no health risk" to the public. Yet the site contained a number of dangerous substances, he pointed out. "The dumped materials at Haulbowline include mercury, lead, chromium 6, zinc and PCBs."

Labour leader Eamon Gilmore called on Environment Minister John Gormley to publish all the reports in his department's possession on Haulbowline. "I understand an independent environmental report was prepared for Cork County Council as far back as 2005. This report was submitted to the Department of the Environment, but seems to have been buried," Mr Gilmore said, calling on Mr Gormley to "provide answers" for the people of Cork.

Labour TD Kathleen Lynch said there were three reports in total in the department's possession. "Will the minister release the three reports that are in his possession and have been at his department since 2004? I ask him to discuss the matter in this House with those elected to represent the people involved rather than continue with the stupid carry-on that has prevailed for the past two weeks," she said.

She claimed Mr Gormley was the "minister for smugness" because of his unsatisfactory responses to the issue to date. She also criticised backbench government TDs for laughing during yesterday's exchanges, saying they would not find the issue funny if they lived in Cork.

Fine Gael TD Simon Coveney similarly called on the Government to detail exactly what it knew about the contamination levels at the site. "This is potentially the most serious environmental disaster the Government has had to deal with. People are working only 200 to 300 yards from this site and must face the potential health consequences of dust blowing from it." His Fine Gael colleague David Stanton queried whether Defence Minister Willie O'Dea had a view on the issue, given the Naval Service had a base on Haulbowline. "This is an extremely serious issue. I live in the area and have had calls from residents who are very concerned about the high levels of chromium 6 and mercury that have been known for years but covered up," he said.

It was eventually agreed that a special debate on the issue would take place this morning.

Taoiseach Brian Cowen said the Department of the Environment's remit was to "facilitate a thorough investigation of the site and to report to government thereon to allow for a government decision on the future use of the site".

"The minister will report the outcome of this exercise to government in the coming months," Mr Cowen added.

Source

Cancer levels in Cobh 44% higher than national average

2008-07-02T16:54:00.001+01:00

John Mulvihill, Councillor (Lab) 2/7/08

Mayor of Cobh Cllr John Mulvihill jnr has called for health study to be carried out in the lower harbour area following the shocking statistics that indicate Cobh has a cancer levels 44% above the national average.

Mayor of Cobh Cllr John Mulvihill jnr has called for health study to be carried out in the lower harbour area following the shocking statistics that indicate Cobh has a cancer levels 44% above the national average.

Quoting from figures optioned from the National Cancer Registry he stated that between 1994-2005, 478 people were diagnosed with cancer on the island of Cobh. When this is set against the national average it indicates that Cobh is 44% above the national average.

Following on from the recent find of chromium 6 that was deposited on the former Irish steel site it raise serious concerns for the people of Cobh.

The minister for the Environment must immediately publish all documents in relation to the site, he should also carry out a health survey in partnership with the department of health on the health risk that were faced in the past and the health risks that might be faced in the future.

The figure of 478 people represents people's father's mother's sons and daughters this is a very serious matter and when set against the national average it reveals the people of Cobh worst fears.

The people of Cobh need action and reassurance on this important matter we deserve nothing less from this government.

Source

O'Dea urged to move staff away from toxic waste

2008-07-01T23:55:00.001+01:00

Irish Examiner 1/7/08

THE Defence Forces' representative body, PDFORRA, has written to Defence Minister Willie O'Dea, urging him to move navy personnel away from a toxic slag heap in Cork harbour.

PDFORRA general secretary Gerry Rooney said his members at the naval base in Haulbowline were very concerned about their health, following revelations that toxic waste, including the deadly carcinogenic chromium 6, is present in the slag heap.

"Some of our people are working within 10 metres of the slag heap and we want them moved away from it, towards the other side of the island," Mr Rooney said.

He said his organisation had also written to Minister for the Environment John Gormley, urging him to instruct the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to carry out air monitoring at the site.

"The EPA has been monitoring the old steel mill since around 2004 and have air monitors around it to collect data on toxic substances. But, seeing as the slag heap has been disturbed, it is potentially even more dangerous and there doesn't appear to be any air monitoring around it," said the PDFORRA general secretary.

The naval service has more than 1,000 members. At any one time there are around 700 personnel on the Haulbowline island and this is causing a lot of concern among their ranks.

"Our members were always aware of the risks associated with the steel mill, but they were never aware of the risks of the slag heap," Mr Rooney said. "We want a detailed risk assessment of the slag heap site carried out as soon as possible."

Meanwhile, Senator Jerry Buttimer (FG) is hoping to raise the issue in an adjournment debate at the Seanad tonight. "I will be asking Minister for the Environment John Gormley to tell us everything he knows about the situation and to make it public. If he refuses to do this then I will be seeking the establishment of an independent inquiry."

He said his constituents in the lower harbour had a right to know what was contained in the slag heap. "People have very genuine concerns and they don't want things hidden from them. This is the first big test of a Green minister and he will have to deliver," the senator said.

He added that he supported PDFORRA's call to move naval personnel away from the contaminated area. "We don't want to be scaremongering, but we have to be cautious. The health and safety of these people has to come first," Mr Buttimer said.

Source

Gormley hears Haulbowline concerns

2008-07-01T23:54:00.001+01:00

RTÉ News 1/7/08

Environment Minister John Gormley has given new information to residents from Cobh and Ringaskiddy on hazardous waste at Haulbowline following a meeting at Leinster House this evening.

The Minister released a 2005 report into the site, as well as giving residents access to daily water quality and dust reports. He has also given a commitment to allowing current data on waste at Haulbowline.

Following the meeting residents said they welcomed the Minister's openness but were disappointed they had received no assurances on the impact of the site on their health.

They were also concerned they had not been given a guarantee that financial concerns would not delay the clean up at the former Irish Steel plant.

Source

Get answers about toxic waste, Brockovich urges

2008-07-01T12:58:00.001+01:00

Irish Independent 1/7/08

ERIN Brockovich, the environmental campaigner who successfully challenged one of America's biggest companies and inspired a Hollywood movie, has urged an Irish community to demand answers about toxic waste dumping.

Ms Brockovich extended her support to the Cork harbour community amid mounting fears over the long-term environmental and health implications of toxic waste dumped at Haulbowline Island.

Her comments came as it emerged one of the substances at the centre of the Haulbowline Island scare is Chromium 6 -- the very same carcinogen involved in the case Ms Brockovich successfully fought in California. That case inspired the smash-hit Hollywood film 'Erin Brockovich' which earned Julia Roberts an Academy Award.

It is now feared that up to 500,000 tonnes of toxic waste could be stored on the Cork Harbour island which for 50 years was home to Ireland's only steel mill.

Yesterday, the US environmental campaigner urged Cork harbour communities to report anything unusual and to demand detailed answers.

"Don't be afraid to ask questions if you see something alarming and don't be afraid to report it," she said.

"If the water is turning a funny colour, if there is a lot of dust, if you are having respiratory problems -- be vigilant," she warned. Ms Brockovich stressed that it was now vital that other groups come to the assistance of the Cork harbour residents -- particularly in relation to health and environmental monitoring.

"I would certainly hope that environmental groups will rally to come out there to get some testing done. I would clearly take a look at any water contamination that is occurring," she told Cork radio station, Red FM.

Dust

"On windy days observe any blown dust -- and I would encourage the community out there to stay after the Government or the company to give them some answers about how much Chromium 6 there is," she said.

Environment Minister John Gormley has been challenged to confirm precisely what will be done with the estimated 500,000 tonnes of toxic waste at the former Irish Steel/Irish Ispat site. Mr Gormley has angrily rejected claims that there was any attempted "cover up" of the Haulbowline toxic waste issue.

Source

Haulbowline

2008-06-30T16:56:00.002+01:00

Dan Boyle, Senator (Green) 30/6/08

Haulbowline is an issue that I've commented on a lot in my time as a local politician.
Last week I trawled through my files on the subject and came up with dozens of pages of press releases, DÃ¡il speeches and submissions to Bord Pleanala and Environmental Protection Agency oral hearings.

I must admit that I am surprised that many now appear to be surprised. Haulbowline has long been the most contaminated site in Ireland. It has been known how much and what type of hazardous material is there. I have referred to these statistics in the speeches, submissions and press releases I've made over the years.

Many of those who are seeking to make political capital on this have been until now utterly silent on the environmental hazards of Haulbowline, and sometimes have even defended the worsening of those hazards such as through the shameful Irish Ispat deal in 1995.

Much spinning has been going on. The sub contractors whose work went beyond where they were meant to, were creating an environmental risk. I have no confidence in a company that has a judgement for illegal dumping against it, and I question how they were ever allowed to work on the island. Hazardous material was being removed without any containment structures being in place. I believe the Department of the Environment was correct to ask this company to leave the site.

There is no cover up and with a Green Party Minister for the Environment there cannot be. We did not approve of this waste being dumped here and we are more than aware of the need to have waste cleared safely. The inference I took from the Ministerâ€™s statement on the health risks that exist, was in relation to the immediate risks as the polluted materials are contained. There is, of course, a long term environmental health risk while the material remains on the island. Getting cabinet approval for this will be the John Gormley's biggest test. This clean up will cost several hundreds of millions of euro. It is a cost that has to be met.

Justifiable cynicism continues to exist among residents of the Cork Harbour area about how officials of several State agencies have colluded in creating and then sought to minimise the threat posed by inaction on Haulbowline. They deserve better and the Minister for the Environment has a huge responsibility to show that things can be done better and far differently. I am encouraged by his action on Friday to appoint consultants to assess the present risk caused by removal of material in an unsafe manner. This Tuesday he will be meeting with local residents, the Minister has told me that he will make all necessary information available. I further believe that a consultative committee with local participation should be put in place. This committee should have full and regular access to whatever subsequent information becomes available about the monitoring of the site, and what materials are being removed how and when.

Reassurances to Cork Harbour residents have to go beyond this. The Minister has further told me that not only will his department do all it must do, but also he will seek to convince the government in general and several of his cabinet colleagues of other confidence measures that are needed. Chief among these would be to finally prepare a Cork Harbour base line Health Survey, as was once suggested by Dr. Rory Oâ€™Hanlon when he was Minister for Health in 1989.

If there is one outstanding benefit of the issue of Haulbowline coming to the fore again, it is that it gives an opportunity for once and for all to deal with this scandal fully, effectively and in ways that public confidence can be properly restored. I am confident that only a Green Party Minister for the Environment in these circumstances can help to achieve that.

Source

Major health risk posed to public by former Ispat site

2008-06-30T16:39:00.001+01:00

Simon Coveney TD (FG) 30/6/08

Government assurances are not accurate, immediate action needed.

The assurances by the Minister for the Environment that the former Irish Ispat site does not pose any health risk to the people of Cork are not accurate based on what we know from reports on the site. I called for the government to immediately make an honest declaration of the facts about the former Irish Ispat site, and then to set out in detail what it is going to do to make the site safe, regardless of cost.

Minister Gormley has assured us that people in Cork will not be exposed to any health risk because of hazardous waste at the site of the former Irish Ispat steel plant in Cork. However based on what we know from several reports about the site, this simply is not the case. His claims are both inaccurate and irresponsible.

We now know, for example, from a environmental report completed last December that on the shoreline of the site there are mercury levels 25 times higher than should require serious intervention, and that an environmental engineer working for the Department requested “emergency treatment immediately” for certain parts of the site.

We have also had junior Minister Máire Hoctor repeatedly telling the Dáil last week, on behalf of Minister Gormley, that no subsurface investigation at the site has taken place. This simply is not true – I have seen reports of several such investigations.

It is past time for Minister Gormley to make an honest declaration of the facts about the site, warts and all, and then to set out in detail what the Government is going to do to make the site safe. There should be no budgetary constraints on the process of making this site safe; it is too serious for that. The Minister needs to outline a plan to prevent further environmental damage and to re-assure people living and working in the vicinity, that he is doing everything possible to make the site safe.

Source

Contamination on Haulbowline island

2008-06-30T16:24:00.002+01:00

Cork Harbour website 30/6/08

Local Cork company Louis J O Regan Ltd., have raised the issue of contamination on Haulbowline Island at the old Irish Steel works while carrying out remedial works on the site. Louis J O Regan Ltd were contracted to remove 15,000 tonnes of waste from the surface but soon revealed large amounts of potentially toxic waste, including Chromium 6, regarded as the second most dangerous carcinogenic known in the world. This issue has received widespread media attention in the last week. Concerns have been expressed by environmental groups within the harbour, by local residents and local politicians. Statutory bodies with responsibilities for monitoring the clean up of the site, including the EPA and Cork County Council, have confirmed that the clean up process is being conducted in a controlled manner. Minister for the Environment, John Gormley, has said that an independent assessment of the process is to be carried out.

Source

Chromium (VI): linked to lung cancer

2008-06-27T23:58:00.001+01:00

The Irish Times 27/6/08

THE TOXIC waste left behind at the Haulbowline plant includes traces of chromium (VI). This has been shown to cause lung cancer in workers exposed to the substance according to the US National Toxicology Programme run under the national institutes of health.

It is in widespread industrial use in electroplating and stainless steel production, the most likely reason it was found at the former Irish Steel plant is that the plant would have received recycled chrome-plated metals. While most health impacts are caused by breathing in chromium (VI) dust, the substance can form compounds that can get into water systems.

The US Environmental Protection Agency has set very low levels for drinking water, with maximum limits of 100 microgrammes per litre of water, some states set even lower limits. The film Erin Brockovich told the true story of a legal case surrounding a chromium (VI) pollution incident in California.

Source

Gormley insists steel plant site at Haulbowline is safe

2008-06-27T23:56:00.001+01:00

Barry Roche, Southern Correspondent
The Irish Times 27/6/08

MINISTER FOR the Environment John Gormley yesterday moved to assure residents of Cork Harbour that the former Irish Steel site on Haulbowline island is safe despite claims that larger than expected amounts of hazardous material have been found there.

Mr Gormley said both the EPA and experts from the Department of the Environment are monitoring the former site and liaising with two staff on the site following the termination of a contract with a local contractor to carry out site clearance work.

"The situation is that the site clearance has now ceased and I have been assured that the highest environmental standards are being observed and both the EPA and my department have given me assurances that people will not be exposed to any risk," said Mr Gormley.

According to Mr Gormley, Hammond Lane Metal Company was contracted to remove buildings at the site of the former steel plant and the company subcontracted the clearance work out to Louis J O'Regan Ltd.

However, the contract was terminated when the subcontractors began excavating below surface level, disturbing hazardous materials.

It was decided it was safer to cease that work rather than expose hazardous materials, he said.

"It's very difficult to quantify how much hazardous material is there.

"We know that there were 50,000 tonnes deposited there every year for 10 years so there's at least 500,000 tonnes but you can never know until you bore down properly and start to remediate the site.

"Remediation is difficult because when you start to remediate, you're digging up a lot of this stuff and you are exposing people and this is where the dispute arose with this particular subcontractor and the EPA and the department felt this digging was counter-productive."

However, Mr Gormley's assertion about the termination of the contract was disputed by environmental consultant Stephen Griffin.

Mr Griffin said he was hired by Hammond Lane because of his expertise in dealing with heavy metals to advise on the site clearance. The contract with the department specified that the contractor or his agents should clear the site to "a clean safe level".

"We were obliged in our contract to leave a clean safe level site behind for remediation but there's no such thing on Haulbowline island as a clean level surface.

"When we took off the surface layers of hazardous waste, we found more layers of hazardous waste. Our initial discussion was on the removal of about 1,500 tonnes of hazardous material but when we hit 100,000 tonnes, people in Dublin became fearful about the cost."

Mr Griffin said it appeared to him that the Department of the Environment didn't have a plan to finish the job but he urged Mr Gormley to carry on immediately with full clean-up and remediation in order to make the area safe for naval personnel and others on the island. Mr Griffin said that it addition to toxic heavy metals such as zinc, lead, mercury, cadmium and chromium, there are also some 500,000 tonnes of contaminated hydrocarbons buried on the island and he expressed concern about these materials leaching out in tidal movements.

The subcontractor in dispute with the department over the clean-up, Louis O'Regan, was ordered by the High Court in 2005 to pay an estimated €210,000 costs toward an investigation into the effects of illegal dumping on lands he owned at Weir Island in Fota.

Mr O'Regan could not be contacted for comment yesterday but the Cork Harbour Alliance for A Safe Environment (Chase) called on Mr Gormley to commission a baseline study to establish the health of people living in the Cork Harbour area.

"We also call on Minister Gormley to implement his promised EPA reform, and to separate the EPA into stand-alone protection and licensing bodies. The current remit where the EPA has dual responsibility means that the community is sacrificed because the EPA must look after its customers, industry," said a Chase spokeswoman.

Source

Cork CoCo AGM: Toxic Waste at Irish Steel Site, Haulbowline

2008-06-27T20:12:00.000+01:00

Cork County Council
Annual Meeting 27 June 2008

Minutes of Proceedings at Annual Meeting of Cork County Council held in the Council Chamber, County Hall, Cork on 27 June 2008

PRESENT

Councillor T. Sheahan, County Mayor presided.

Councillors K. Murphy, Neville, Coleman, Sheehan, P.G. Murphy, O'Shea, Harrington, Crowley, Kelly, Fleming, Ryan, McGrath, Forde, M. O'Keeffe, T. Lombard, Desmond, J A. Collins, K. O'Keeffe, O'Flynn, Pyne, O'Doherty, P. Buckley, Marian Murphy, Marie Murphy, N. Buckley, Donegan, Creed, Moynihan, Mullally, Fitzgerald, O'Connor, Sheahan, Hegarty, Mulvihill, N. Collins, Ahern, Hallinan, Murray, Collins, McCarthy, Carroll, O'Donovan, Daly.

County Manager, A/County Engineer, Senior Executive Officer

Suspension of Standing Orders - Toxic Waste at Irish Steel Site, Haulbowline

Councillor J. Mulvihill proposed, seconded by Councillor M. Hegarty, the suspension of Standing Orders to discuss the toxic waste at the former Irish Steel Site at Haulbowline. He said he was concerned at recent media reports which suggested that waste at the site is toxic and that there may be a potential health risk to people in the area. He sought clarification on what monitoring of the site has been done if the report findings can be made public to allay fears that people may have. He also queried if toxic waste was transferred from the site by road. He said he was requesting that a health study would be carried out on people in the lower harbour area.

The County Manager said that while the occasion was not appropriate for a full debate, there is a lot of fear and misunderstanding surrounding this case and that there is a need to reassure people. He stated that there is no cover up going on and that the site has a long history.

The Manager advised that the EPA is trying to manage a process to seek a future use of the island and that this is being done in a controlled manner. He said that there are contractual issues which need to be borne in mind when requesting the Department of the Environment to release any reports regarding the site but said he would pass on the Members request.

The Manager stated that the transportation of waste is heavily regulated. He also said that he would make any information possible available to anybody requesting same. He stated that he would also pass on the request to have a health study carried out.

This was noted by the Members.

Source

Mayor of Cobh demands answers on Irish Steel site

2008-06-27T16:50:00.002+01:00

John Mulvihill, Councillor (Lab) 27/6/08

The Mayor of Cobh John Mulvihill jnr has today called on the Minister for the Environment John Gormley to issue a statement about the revelations about the former Irish steel site.

I want the minister to come clean on all the records and studies his department have carried out on the site. I also request to that he and his department in partnership with the department of health to carry out a study in to the amount of cases of cancer and related heath risks that have been diagnosed in the Harbour area over the last number of years.

The question of the transportation of the 100,000 tones of hazardous material has also to be addressed. He needs to detail where it was shipped from and the precautions that were put in place.

Cobh is a town in fear at the moment with many unanswered question from yesterdays revelations. The people of Cobh need answers now and we cannot wait until the minister announces his plans for the site in the autumn.

The People of Cobh of Cobh and the lower harbour area deserve nothing less from our government.

Source

Cork Harbour residents slam Gormley and EPA

2008-06-27T00:01:00.001+01:00

The Independent 27/6/08

A residents group in Cork says it has lost confidence in the Environment Minister and the EPA following the latest environmental scandal to hit the area.

Concerns have been raised this morning about the way in which hazardous waste at the former Irish Steel plant in Haulbowline is being disposed.

The Government has reportedly ordered a sub-contractor to seal a number of "lagoons" containing huge amounts of toxic by-products rather than removing the material for disposal.

The Department of the Environment, the EPA and Cork County Council are also being accused of trying to cover up the amount of hazardous waste buried at the site.

The Cork Harbour Alliance for a Safe Environment says it has no faith in Minister John Gormley or the EPA to properly address the situation.

Meanwhile, attempts by Labour Party TD Joan Burton to seek answers from Mr Gormley in the Dail this morning were ruled out of order by the Ceann Comhairle.

Source

Pollution time bomb - We must have honesty and action

2008-06-27T00:00:00.003+01:00

Irish Examiner 27/6/08

THIS week we were forced to acknowledge one unpleasant reality, one we have denied for far too long. We had to accept that our once booming economy is in recession.

Yesterday, we were forced to acknowledge another. We were reminded us all of a toxic skeleton in our cupboard, one we have avoided for far too long. We all know it exists and that, sooner or later, it would have to be confronted.

We all know that the former Irish Steel plant, at Haulbowline in Cork Harbour, is badly contaminated and that it will have to be restored and redeveloped.

Yesterday, the Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE) claimed that those contaminants include heavy metals such as mercury, zinc and lead, as well as hydrocarbons, PCBs and chromium 6, a powerful carcinogen. It is also believed that there still is radioactive material at the facility. Documents in our possession show that 100,000 tons of contaminated soil have been exported to Germany but that at least 500,000 tons remain on site.

So, there's a lot of toxic material there, some of it dangerous, some of it very dangerous and those issues cannot be avoided. Though those realities are stark enough there's more.

The FIE also claim that Cork County Council has been less than forthcoming about the extent of the contamination. They accuse the council of refusing to release documentation on the matter. FIE say that the council refused to release 19 of 20 requested documents relating to the site.

If a public body like Cork County Council refused to release these documents they must explain why and whose interests were being served. Were they the authority's, the public's, the Government's or those of some unidentified third party? The issues at stake are too great and cannot be shrugged off with the usual public-service omerta. The charges must be either refuted or explained.

And still there is more. A contractor employed by the Department of the Environment to do "surface clearance work" says that when he discovered vast quantities of contaminated materials, far beyond what was imagined to exist at the site, he was ordered to cover them and then quit the site pending a decision on the Government's plans for the island. The contractor discovered the material because one of his machines sank in a huge, unmarked pit of hazardous waste.

Even the Department of the Environment has admitted that they cannot quantify the waste at the site.

It is appropriate to remind ourselves that the plant finally closed in June 2001 with the loss of 400 jobs. That's seven years to the day more or less and it has not yet been established how much waste is on the site.

Why not? We all know it's there and that it must be processed but, seven years later, we can't say with any accuracy what's buried at Haulbowline. This is not acceptable and undermines the credibility of all organisations with responsibility in the sorry saga.

And what a sorry saga Irish Steel has been. The State took a series of unsuccessful court cases trying to get Irish Ispat, which bought the plant from the government for £1 in 1996, to accept responsibility, or a proportion of responsibility, for the mess. At the end of the day the State is responsible, if for no other reason than it is obliged to protect its citizens.

Because of the scale of the problem enormous resources and effort will be needed to resolve the issue. It may, though it is unlikely, transpire that a large proportion of the material is less toxic than we might fear but right now no one seems to know. Whether it's a time bomb or whether our fears are unfounded we just can't say but ignorance breeds fear.

The Environmental Protection Agency claims it "supervises the environmental protection activities of local authorities by auditing their performance, providing advice and guidance, and, in appropriate cases, giving binding directions ... We work with local authorities and public bodies involved in enforcement ... "

All of this sounds fine and dandy but it's hard to make that fit with the mess in Cork Harbour where the EPA's record is less impressive than they might wish it to be. Though the EPA is not by any means the only organisation involved, it is the citizens' watchdog and, in that capacity, it must quickly allay our fears or propose a course of action that can, in time, allay those fears.

As the recession bites it will be difficult to fund non-essential projects but we have been treated with contempt on this matter for far too long. We all know that, at the very least, there's the potential for significant pollution buried at the site. It's time for honesty and action.

Source

Govt under fire over clean-up of Irish Steel site

2008-06-27T00:00:00.002+01:00

The Independent 27/6/08

The Government has reportedly told a sub-contracting firm not to remove huge pools of hazardous waste from the former Irish Steel site at Haulbowline Island near Cork.

The company was in the process of removing the 500,000 tonnes of waste and shipping it to Germany for disposal.

However, reports this morning say the Department of the Environment has asked the firm involved in the clean-up to cap the lagoons containing the waste until a detailed risk assessment is carried out.

An official investigation has reportedly found that the waste, which includes highly toxic materials, is likely to pose a severe risk to the health of local people.

The Government, the Environmental Protection Agency and Cork County Council are being accused of mounting a cover-up over the matter by failing to reveal the true extent of the waste on site.

An environmental consultant working for the contracting firm says capping the waste lagoons goes against every environmental principle.

However, Environment Minister John Gormley is accusing the contractor of failing to clean up the site properly and says his officials are currently compiling a report on the situation.

Source

Toxic waste cover-up - Firm told to leave 500,000 tonnes of material on site

2008-06-26T23:59:00.001+01:00

By Conor Kane
Irish Examiner 26/6/08

THE Department of the Environment has been accused of a "cover-up" concerning the extent of highly hazardous waste buried at what has been described as potentially "the largest and most extensive pollution incident in the history of the State".

Documents seen by the Irish Examiner indicate that the department told a sub-contracting firm involved in a clean-up operation at the controversial Irish Steel site at Haulbowline Island near Cork to "cap" lagoons containing hazardous waste, rather than remove the potentially deadly material - estimated at about 500,000 tonnes.

The documents also reveal the waste includes highly toxic substances such as chromium 6 â€" the second most dangerous carcinogen - as well as hydrocarbons and other oil and metal byproducts. The cost of the operation at Haulbowline to date also suggests a full clean-up of the site could cost up to €300 million.

An official investigation, the findings of which have been seen by the Irish Examiner, has already found that the waste material is "likely" to be a "severe" health risk to people locally, such as the residents of Cobh and navy personnel based nearby, mainly because of toxic dust getting carried by the wind.

It also represents a huge risk to flora and fauna.

A health and safety company, which was sub-contracted to clean up the site last October, said in its initial submission that it would remove any hazardous waste from the site "for disposal", with the agreement of local representatives from the department.

However, a letter sent to the contractors by the department on April 18 last told them: "It is the considered view of the department, following consultations with the Environmental Protection Agency and Cork County Council, that the required course of action will be to cap the lagoon with inert slag material (or other such suitable available material), pending a detailed risk assessment of the entire site."

This recommendation came despite the fact that an investigation and assessment was carried out six years ago on behalf of the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources.

The sub-contractors said they had already removed 100,000 tonnes of hazardous waste from the site, at a cost of €50m, and shipped it to Germany for disposal.

The German company involved in processing the waste has already written to the contractors expressing concern about the level of chromium 6 contained in the material. According to sub-contractors Louis J O'Regan Ltd, the Department of the Environment owes them €20m for the removal of hazardous waste and has terminated their contract. The company says health and safety legislation obliges them to complete the removal of the waste. "They told us to bury the waste and we didn't," said a representative from Louis J O'Regan Ltd. "Under health and safety regulations, we can't hand back the site until it is all done."

Environmental consultant Stephen Griffin, engaged by the contractors to oversee the project, told the Irish Examiner that information on the hazardous waste has been with the department since 2001 and that the contractors "were refused access to this". The extent of the problem was only realised when clean-up work started.

Mr Griffin accused the EPA, Cork County Council and the department of a "a cover-up".

To cap the waste - with further waste - rather than remove it, he said, would "go against every environmental principle that has ever been written, apart from Irish law and European law and health and safety law", he said. However, the department said in a statement last night the sub-contractors had carried out "unauthorised works" following the discovery of the pit of hazardous waste. It accused the sub-contractors of refusing to vacate the site and continuing to operate "without authorisation and in a piecemeal fashion causing a threat to the environment by its actions" and described accusations of a cover-up as "entirely false".

Environment Minister John Gormley last night insisted he remained committed to transforming the site from an environmental liability into an asset for the region. "My officials are finalising a report on the site, which will outline options for its future, which I hope to bring to government in the autumn. Work has been ongoing for the last five years to properly assess the site, so that an informed decision on its future can be made.

"In relation to the recent issues regarding sub-contractors on the site, the department, acting on best expert advice of the EPA, ordered the unauthorised work to stop, as there were serious concerns that the work being carried out in such a piecemeal fashion posed a significant environmental risk," he said.

According to the Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE), who accused Cork County Council of a "cover-up", the council refused to release 19 out of 20 records on the issue. FIE described the contamination as "the largest and most extensive pollution incident in the history of the State". Cork County Council said it was a matter for the department.

Source

Minister misleads Dail on Govt handling of hazardous waste in Cork

2008-06-26T16:37:00.001+01:00

Simon Coveney TD (FG) 26/6/08

Govt's handling of the issue is grossly negligent.

Speaking in the Dail this afternoon (Thursday) I accused Minister of State Maire Hoctor of misleading the Dail by claiming that during the past five years, only a surface investigation has been conducted of the former ISPAT site in Cork Harbour.

I made this accusation during a debate on a Private Notice Question put down by myself and Cork TDs David Stanton, Deirdre Clune, Sean Sherlock and Ciaran Lynch on the issue in the Dail this afternoon.

If what Minister of State Hoctor is saying is true, then the Government has deliberately ignored what everyone suspected to be subsurface contamination at the site.

If on the other hand, as is common knowledge, a subsurface investigation has taken place, then the Minister has deliberately misled the Dail, and is complicit in a cover-up of the Government's knowledge as to the extent of the hazardous material. If this is the case, and Government Ministers have been sitting on information and have not exposed the true extent of hazardous material on the site, their actions can only be described as grossly negligent.

This is an issue of huge concern for residents of Ringaskiddy, people working in the naval base in Haulbowline and in the maritime college. It is also of concern to residents in Cobh and the thousands of people who use the harbour for recreational purposes.

The Government needs to be upfront and honest, expose the full extent of hazardous material on the site, and put in place a short-term plan to clean the site up and guarantee public safety. Because of the level of suspicion and anger, nothing else will restore public confidence on this issue.

Source

Gormley denies Haulbowline poses health risk

2008-06-26T12:45:00.001+01:00

RTÉ News 26/6/08

The Minister for Environment, John Gormley, has said he has been assured by his department that people will not be exposed to any health risk because of hazardous waste at Haulbowline in Cork.

Mr Gormley said that he will meet residents to reassure them of this, and said he hoped to bring a report to Government later this year outlining options to deal with an estimated half a million tonnes of waste.

Health fears have been raised after a sub-contractor involved in a surface clearance at the site claimed to have uncovered levels of a toxin, chromium six, which causes cancer, and has accused the Department of a cover-up. The waste came from the former Irish Ispat steel plant at the site.

The department has denied there was any cover-up and Minister Gormley says his officials are considering the options for dealing with the dump at Haulbowline.

Labour Deputy Leader Joan Burton called on Mr Gormley to come into the Dáil to explain why the contractors were ordered to stop work. When she continued to ask whether the people of Cork were safe, she was told by the Ceann Comhairle that she was out of order and would have to sit down or leave the House. A number of deputies were also ruled out of order earlier today when they tried to raise the issue on the Order of Business.

A report in today's Irish Examiner claims that the waste contains the highly toxic chemical chromium six. The chemical, also known as hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)), causes cancer and is the same material against which US activist and film heroine Erin Brockovich campaigned.

For more than 60 years, steel production at Haulbowline turned the 20-acre island in Cork harbour into one of the most dangerous dumps in the country. In the decade before the steel plant closed in 2001, more than half a million tonnes of hazardous waste was dumped there, and when it finally closed the big question was what could be done with the material to make the site safe. The Department of Environment took control of the site in 2003 and since then it has been trying to establish exactly what is buried there and what risks it poses.

Audio & Video:

Six One News: Paschal Sheehy, Southern Editor, reports that Minister John Gormley has said people are not at risk because of hazardous waste at Haulbowline in Cork
Nine News: Paschal Sheehy, Southern Editor, reports that John Gormley has said that chemicals found at Haulbowline pose no risk to local residents
One News: Watch the video
News At One: Listen to Dáil exchanges on the issue of waste at Haulbowline in Cork harbour
News At One: Environmental consultant Stephen Griffin says he was brought onto the site to do a surface clean-up
News At One: John Gormley, Minister for the Environment, says he can reassure residents that the site is safe

Source

Statement by John Gormley TD Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government in relation to the Former Irish Ispat (Irish Steel) site...

2008-06-26T12:36:00.001+01:00

Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government 26/6/08

Mr John Gormley TD Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government today (26 June 08) reiterated his commitment to dealing with the legacy issue of waste at the Haulbowline site. This waste was deposited there over decades of operations at the site. The Minister also responded to the allegation that there was a cover up by his Department in relation to the Former Irish Ispat (Irish Steel) site at Haulbowline, Cork.

"Accusations of a cover up are entirely false. I was appalled to hear reports today through the media that officials of my Department have been accused of being involved in a cover up in relation to the former Irish Steel plant at Cork. The source of these allegations seems to be a sub-contractor who was involved in surface clearance works on behalf of the main contractor, Hammond Lane. Following the inadvertent discovery of a sub-surface sludge pit of hazardous waste a series of unauthorised works were undertaken by the contractor as a consequence of the find. These unauthorised works potentially compromised the safety of the site and as result the contract for the surface works was terminated," said Minister Gormley.

This surface clearance became necessary following the demolition and decontamination of the former Irish Steel/Ispat buildings to remove resultant debris from the surface only. These works were carried out as an interim step pending a decision by the Government on the potential future use of the site and the consequent sub-surface remediation which would be required.

The Department under the direction of a Government decision, has been managing, on a care and maintenance basis, the former Irish Ispat (Irish Steel) facility at Haulbowline, Co. Cork, assisted by Cork County Council, since summer 2003. During that period the Department has coordinated all legal actions in relation to the site, carried out a comprehensive site investigation to determine the levels of contamination and remediation/development options at the site, set up ongoing environmental monitoring at established monitoring points, decontaminated and demolished the steelworks buildings and arranged for the site surface clearance contract. This site investigation was a necessarily preliminary one but did include sub-surface sampling. It will of course be necessary to engage in a comprehensive risk assessment of the entire site once the Government has determined its future use to ensure that it is fully remediated for that purpose.

This process has now brought the site to a position where the Government can make an informed decision as to its future use.

"My principal concern is for the people of Cork Harbour and I want to reassure them that the Government is fully committed to transforming what is currently an environmental liability into an asset for the people of Cork. I hope to bring proposals to Government as soon as possible to assist with a determination as to the optimum future use of site," added Minister Gormley.

ENDS

Note for Editors
The steel mills operated over many decades at a time when such industrial activities were poorly regulated. The nature of the activity generated very large quantities of hazardous waste, which were dumped on the island in an area, which became known as the East Tip.

When the plant went into liquidation the Government decided that, while the Minister for Finance would retain ownership, the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government would act on a care and maintenance basis.

A key part of that Department's remit is to facilitate a thorough investigation of the site and report to Government to allow a further Government decision on the future use of the site.

In the coming months the Government will make a decision on the future use of this potentially valuable development site. In this context the full remediation of the site to make it fit for purpose will be addressed. In the meantime all necessary interim works are and will be undertaken to contain this complex industrial legacy and absolutely minimise any impact on the local environment. It has been a feature of the local area for many decades. The steps now being taken will ultimately transform this liability into an asset for the Cork area.

Media queries:
Press and Information Office
Tel: (01) 888 2638 (direct)
(01) 888 2000
E-Mail: press-office@environ.ie
Web site: www.environ.ie

Source

Chromium Six--Again

2008-06-16T10:59:00.001+01:00

Posted by Erin Brockovich in her Blog
16 June 2008

Chromium Six has reared its ugly head again. Now it has been found in Ireland, specifically at a former steel plant in Cork, Ireland. The plant has been closed since 2001 after twenty years in operation stockpiling masses of toxins. In 2003, the Irish Department of Environment took over responsibility for the property. Since then, they have been inventorying the site, which is now a toxic chemical dump. Not the healthiest job to do.

Here is something I have heard before, though it was someone other than the Minister for Environment John Gormley saying it:

"People will not be exposed to any health risk because of hazardous waste at Haulbowline in Cork." He says so because someone in his office says so, according to BBC news.

The statement was in reply to one of the people subcontracted to work on the site who found toxic levels of Chromium Six.

If it isn't dangerous, why did they stop work? Why close the door if you're denying the horses are out? But apparently someone has called a stop-work order. Lucky for those subcontractors and locals whose job it is to pick thru the half a million tons of hazardous materials buried at the dump site. I hope someone is heavily insured. Not that insurance, or lawsuits, or settlements help when people are doomed to die of cancer because their very environment is killing them.

Minister for Foreign Affairs launches Cork Harbour Integrated Management Strategy

2008-05-09T13:00:00.001+01:00

Coastal and Marine Resources Centre (CMRC)
University College Cork (UCC) 9/5/08

A new approach to coastal management in Cork Harbour was unveiled by Micheál Martin, Minister for Foreign Affairs when he launched a new Management Strategy for the Harbour in Cobh, Co. Cork today (Friday, 9th May 2008). Cork Harbour is a unique resource and presents very real management challenges associated with, for example, flooding, water quality, industrial expansion, environmental protection, marina development and recreational usage. This Strategy is based on a voluntary partnership between key management agencies and local stakeholders including Port of Cork, Irish Naval Service, Local Authorities, Government Departments, Chamber of Commerce, Fáilte Ireland, community development agencies and the IDA.

Pictured at the launch of the Integrated Management Strategy for Cork Harbour were: Valerie Cummins, Director, CMRC; Micheál Martin TD, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Jeremy Gault, Deputy Director, CMRC

The aim of the Strategy is to bring all those involved in the development, management and use of Cork Harbour together in a framework which encourages the integration of their interests and responsibilities to achieve common objectives in a sustainable manner. Development of the Strategy and its subsequent implementation will put Cork Harbour at the forefront of coastal management practice in Ireland.

Speaking at the launch, Minister Martin said : “What is significant about this Strategy is that it is endeavouring to pull all the strands together and, I think, if we were honest we were fragmented in the past in terms of approaching development of the Harbour.” He referred to the dramatic changes of what were iconic industrial features of the Harbour in recent times, with the closure of ISPAT and IFI. "I take up the point that the Strategy represents a historic opportunity to realise a different future of Cork Harbour which integrates the different functions of the Harbour." As a Government Minister, I wish to both promote and profile Cork Harbour as being the centre for education, training and research in relation to all things maritime,” he added.

The Strategy is the culmination of over three years work co-ordinated by the Coastal & Marine Resources Centre (CMRC), University College Cork and the Planning Policy Unit in Cork County Council as part of an EU Interreg Project, COREPOINT (Coastal Research & Policy Integration).

Commenting on the launch, Jeremy Gault, Deputy Director CMRC & Corepoint Project Manager, expressed his delight that the Minister for Foreign Affairs had agreed to launch the Strategy which is of relevance to anyone with an interest in the sustainable management of Cork Harbour. He said: "Producing the strategy has been an exhausting but worthwhile task that would not have been possible without the support of the joint co-ordinators of the Planning Policy Unit of Cork County Council." He paid tribute to the members of the Cork Harbour Forum and the Strategic Advisory Group for their time, energy and commitment in bringing this Management Strategy to fruition.

In addition to the Strategy, an Action Plan will be developed for the period 2008 to 2011 based on priorities identified from this Strategy document. This will form the next step in the implementation process and funding has already been secured to facilitate this through an additional EU project.

To obtain a copy of the Strategy document, please contact the CMRC, tel. 021 4703100 or visit http://www.corkharbour.ie/

Downloads
Executive Summary
Strategy Document

Source

Haulbowline Site Remediation Update - October 2007

2007-10-02T00:02:00.001+01:00

Cork County Council 2/10/07

Demolition of the steelworks was completed in the first quarter of 2007. Steel, concrete and masonry structures across the site were razed, the main exception being the 19th century stone buidings which are National Monuments. In the aftermath, numerous piles of demolition residues were scattered across the site, and a specification was prepared for a full surface clearance. A contract for this clearance was signed by the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government with Hammond Lane Metal Company in August. Work has now commenced and will last several months. There will be a strong emphasis in this phase on recycling as much material as possible, and concrete and masonry will be crushed and stockpiled or used to back-fill surface pits. Residual waste will be removed from site in compliance with environmental regulations.

The clearance contract also covers the removal of assorted steelworks waste from the surface and margins of the tiphead on the east side of Haulbowline. Separately, an environmental contractor is progressively removing a large pile of millscale (iron oxide) from the north of the tip. This material has been screened to extract metallic and other inclusions and is being shipped to Scandinavia for recycling. However, slag heaps will remain in situ for the time being, pending decisions on remediation and development.

Of the set of six stone buildings straddling the steelworks site and the Naval Base, two are on the steelworks site and in generally poor condition. Work is in hand to protect these structures, in particular the building damaged in the fire of January 2001. This building has now been cleared, leaving the original 19th century structure. A temporary roof is to be installed to allow the building to dry out.
During the ground investigation in the autumn of 2005 a number of boreholes were sunk across the main site and the tiphead. Intermittent monitoring of some of these is being carried out at intervals to watch for any changes in ground condition with time. Borehole water levels have also been tracked to observe the extent of tidal influence.

Source

Dust problem at Passage West

2007-09-23T12:32:00.001+01:00

Dust problem at Passage West
By Leo McMahon
Southern Star (Passage West/Monkstown News) 23/9/08

A meeting between residents, town councillors and environmental and enforcement officials from Cork County Council was agreed following a deputation from Mr. Joe Snow to the September meeting of Passage West Town Council to highlight the problem of dust emissions from the local dockyard.

Standing orders were suspended on a proposal by Mayor Dominick Donnelly to allow Mr. Snow, a former town councillor who resides near the dockyard, to address the meeting on behalf of affected residents.

He stated that a huge bulk carrier ship with animal feed arrived at the dockyard at 7pm Wednesday, August 22 and by time it had unloaded its cargo and departed on Monday, August 27, there was what described as serious pollution over a wide area.

"Several houses, including my own, had to be power washed down," said Mr. Snow who pointed out that the problems of air pollution from dust and noise was going on for the past 26 years. Dust was caused by aninal feed, coal, briquettes. There was also noise and exhausts from cranes, lorries and boats. Overall, it was an appalling situation, indeed worse, he contended sinced the dockyard was again storing and loading scrap metal following the closure of Ispat (Irish Steel), Haulbowline.

He voiced strong crticism of the county council for a situation in which there were totally inadequate planning conditions attached to operations in the dockyard including the large number of heavy goods vehicles which could luse the site daily. He further stated that he could produce records and submitted newspaper reports to show that enforcement regarding air monitoring, wind speed, noise and was not taking place.

With a major and welcome residential and commercial waterfront development planned for the dockyard involving the company on site and a previous planning application by the latter for a jetty, there were conditions which the county council could enforce, especially as port activity was likely to continue for some time, and affected residents were demanding this, said Mr. Snow.

As a councillor back in 2004, he and fellow members met with senior environmental officials in the county council and the company about the ongoing problems and the latter undertook to install two more water sprayers. Since then, he claimed, the problem of emissions had continued on all sides of the dockyard site and in his opinion the sprayers were "a joke" and ineffective at a section of harbour where there was a tidal difference of around 14 feet.

"One way or the other, the present situation must be dealt with urgently and a quality of life restored to the residents who have suffered for 26 years" he stated. Ultimately, dockyard operations would have to relocate because efforts to control over wind, the noise from generators, the volume of heavy traffic, dust or pollution had failed resulting in debris on cars, properties, roads and gardens up to 450 metres away necessitating power washing of dwellings on numerous occasions in some instances.

Town councillors unanimously supported Mr. Snow's request for a meeting to be arranged between themselves, senior officials in County Hall and residents.

Mr. Michael Murphy said the environmental department should be told the water sprayers were a waste of time. Mr. Jim Murphy said he saw for himself, during the recent visit of a ship, the dust on the street at Ferry Point and said he didn't know how people could get to sleep with the noise at all hours. Ms. Jo. Kelleher, a resident of Glenbrook Wharf, said this relatively new development was due to be repainted but was recently covered in dust as were cars.

Both Mr. John Daly and Ms. Marcia D'Alton queried the level of monitoring being carried out by County Hall officials and what data was available. Mr. Snow said he had dealt with ten chief environmental officers over the past 26 years and the problem was as bad as ever for the residents he had been asked to represent.

Mr. J. Murphy formally proposed that the meeting, as sought by Mr. Snow, be held as soon as possible, Ms. D'Alton seconded and it was unanimously agreed with Mr. Donnelly remarking "enough is enough".

Source

Haulbowline Site Remediation Update - October 2006

2006-10-02T00:05:00.001+01:00

Cork County Council 2/10/06

The last major structure remaining on the steelworks site, the former furnace building, was demolished on September 14th. The contractor had fastened anchor chains at crane-rail level on the east side and pre-weakened the building by hinge-cutting the stanchions on both east and west sides. The chains were connected by wire ropes to heavy excavators which then pulled the building over in an easterly direction.

As the building collapsed there was a bellows effect which blew out the dust on the roof trusses. This was the one area of the buildings which had not been vacuum-cleaned due to difficulty of access and the risk of working at height. Due to choice of favourable wind conditions, the dust cloud dispersed to the south of Haulbowline. One of the air quality monitors installed in the Naval Base recorded a temporary PM-10 level of 290 micrograms per cubic metre, but the daily average for September 14th (34mcg/cu.m.) was well below the guideline of 50mcg/cu.m.

The contractor is now cutting up the building for scrap, including the two gantry cranes which came down with the building. It is expected that a shipment of scrap metal will be followed by a shipment of dust and refractory which will be exported to hazardous waste landfill on the continent. This will free up the remaining warehouses for demolition, and the site will be cleared of remaining metallics. A tentative date for the completion of the steelwork demolition contract is mid-November.

A number of concrete and masonry structures will remain above ground, and it is intended that these will be demolished in the near future.

Source

Plant's 62 years spanned boom and bust as economy evolved

2005-08-22T12:38:00.001+01:00

Barry Roche - Southern Correspondent
The Irish Times 22/8/05

The Ispat site crumbled latterly under lack of investment, poor safety and falling global steel prices, writes Barry Roche.

This week's start of the clean-up operation of the former Irish Ispat plant on Haulbowline in Cork Harbour marks the first step in the process of rehabilitation of the island, after over 60 years as the home of Ireland's heaviest industrial activity.

Originally opened in August 1939 as Irish Steel Ltd at a cost of £500,000, the privately-owned firm went into receivership in 1946. A year later, the Government purchased the company's assets and nationalised the industry to secure some 240 jobs. The 1960s saw boom times at Irish Steel with new furnaces allowing production increase to seven days a week, 24 hours a day, with staff numbers rising to a peak of 1,200 in 1971. Then the economic crisis of 1973 triggered the start of turbulent times for the plant.

The Government had already invested some £65 million in the plant to prepare it for increasing competition, but the collapse of steel prices in Europe in the 1980s led to further hardships and staff numbers at the plant were progressively cut back from 650. Throughout the 1980s, the plant was beset with difficulties. Workers accepted a pay freeze in 1986 before recording a £2 million profit in 1989 - only for the company to record losses in the 1990s, leading to further rationalisation and job cuts.

Eventually, in 1996, the State wrote off debts of £27.5 million and sold Irish Steel to Indian company Ispat International Group for £1. This was on the understanding that £30 million would be invested in the plant and its 330 jobs would be secured under a five-year plan. Steel prices dropped on the world market and sales fell to their lowest level in 10 years but, in 1998, Irish Ispat - as the new company was called - broke even for the first time in 10 years. But sales fell again in 1999 when the company lost £1.8 million.

In May 2001, Irish Ispat sought a 10 per cent pay cut from staff, while it also sought to increase annual production to 420,000 tonnes - 70,000 tonnes more than its previous highest output - in order for the plant to survive.

But on June 15th, 2001, just days after the terms of its five-year deal with the Government expired, Irish Ispat announced it was closing the plant with accumulated losses of £10 million and losses running at an unsustainable £750,000 a month. The closure led to the loss of 400 jobs, while Irish Ispat also left debts of £45 million - including £23.7 million it claimed it owed to its parent company Ispat International, as well as £4.2 million owed to workers. Irish Ispat's tenure at Haulbowline was marked by controversy, with the firm failing to invest in the plant as it had promised when it took over Irish Steel. It also sold off land in Ringaskiddy just prior to closure, which led to accusations of asset-stripping.

Irish Ispat's ownership of the plant was also marked by tragedy. In April 1999, Cobh man John Murphy died when he fell from the gantry of a crane, while in March 2001, a British engineer suffered massive burns when he was electrocuted and died some weeks later. In January 2001, lab technician Thomas Mulcahy lost his life in a fire at the plant's administrative block. An inquest heard the building had no fire alarms, sprinklers or fire escapes, and that the company's fire engine failed to start because of a flat battery.

Siptu revealed a proposal to set up a safety committee was vetoed by Irish Ispat, while former plant safety manager Brian Purcell revealed that he had been refused a budget - estimated at €15,000 - to introduce a better fire-safety training regime.

Irish Ispat had applied for an integrated pollution control (IPC) licence in 1999 from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This followed years of lobbying by environmentalists who had campaigned for tighter controls on emissions from the ageing steel plant.

In March 2001, the EPA issued a draft IPC licence with some 15 conditions attached, relating to emissions, noise and waste management, but Irish Ispat closed the plant before ever implementing any of these. Indeed, the company cited the conditions as one of the factors in its decision to close and, after the EPA failed in a court bid in July 2004 to oblige the liquidator, Ray Jackson, to fund the clean-up, the State has now been left to foot the €30 million clean-up bill.

Source

Clean-up of Ispat plant to start next week

2005-08-18T12:44:00.001+01:00

RTÉ News 18/8/05

Demolition work is due to start next week on the derelict Ispat steel plant in Cork harbour as part of a year-long project to rehabilitate the area. The contractors, Hammond Lane Metal, are expected to collect up to 15,000 tonnes of scrap metal from the site which will be exported by ship to mills in Europe. The demolition and scrapping process will take place in tandem with work which started last week to determine contamination levels. Estimates have put the cost of a clean-up at approximately €30m.

Source

Engineers begin clean-up at Irish Steel factory

2005-08-12T00:23:00.002+01:00

By Eoin English
Irish Examiner 12/8/05

ENVIRONMENTAL engineers moved onto the site of the former Irish Steel factory on Haulbowline Island in Cobh, Co Cork, yesterday to begin the largest industrial clean-up in the history of the State.Consultants working for Cork County Council removed over 80,000 tonnes of hazardous and radioactive materials from the site last year. However, thousands of tonnes of waste material still has to be removed.

More than 60 trial pits and bore holes will be sunk on the island site by staff from White Young Green consultants over the coming weeks to test the ground for contamination. Four holes will be drilled offshore to test the seabed to establish what levels of toxic material from the plant's east tip head have leached into Cork harbour. Air quality monitoring stations have been set up on Haulbowline in Cobh and south of the Haulbowline bridge to monitor dust levels during testing.

"The survey, which is expected to take up to two months, will give us an idea of what work needs to be done to make the 20-acre plus site safe," said Donal Hogan, project manager with White Young Green.

His team will carry out a comprehensive chemical analysis on all their samples later in the year to check for contaminants. The findings will be analysed and a final report will be presented to Cork County Council around November. "It will suggest a range of possible future uses for the entire steelworks site," Mr Hogan said.

The taxpayer will have to foot the clean-up bill, which could top €30 million. But the Green Party said it fears the bill could rise close to €70m.

The team spent yesterday afternoon touring the crumbling steelworks buildings and tip head where thousands of tonnes of slag material, some piled over 50 feet high, are dumped. The derelict factory, which at its peak in 1971 employed more than 1,200 people, will be their base for the next three months.

Mr Hogan said work on the major ground surveys will begin on Monday. The former steelworks has been exposed to a wide range of raw materials and waste products associated with the steel-making process over the last 60 years.

Consultants working for Cork County Council removed over 80,000 tonnes of hazardous and radioactive materials from the site last year. It included over 300 one-tonne bags of toxic furnace dust and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).

The plant closed in 2001 after more than 50 years of production with the loss of more than 440 jobs. Three council staff monitor the site on a day-to-day basis.

Tarnished steel - Irish Steel history:

1939: Founded as a private company.
1946: Went into receivership.
1947: Company was nationalised and went on to become the prince of Irish heavy industry.
1980s and 90s: The State was repeatedly forced to bail the company out, pumping over £200 million into the flagging operation.
1995: The Rainbow Coalition government offloaded Irish Steel to Indian billionaire Lakshmi Mittal for £1. He promised significant investment and a turnaround in the plant's fortunes. Irish Steel became Irish Ispat but the losses continued.
June 2001: Mittal shut the plant down, leaving 450 people without jobs and an estimated €30m environmental clean-up bill.
July 2004: The State failed in a court bid to have the Irish Ispat liquidator meet the clean-up costs, leaving the taxpayer to foot the bill.

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Air Quality Monitoring - Haulbowline

2005-01-02T00:18:00.001Z

Undated
Cork County Council 2/1/05

Prior to any work being carried out on the steelworks site on Haulbowline, four air quality monitoring stations are being installed, as shown on the map. Each of these will be equipped with dust deposition monitors which will give monthly readings of dust collected from the atmosphere. In addition, and due mainly to the proximity of the Naval Base to the steelworks site, real-time dust monitors are being installed in the two monitoring locations on Haulbowline island. These will take hourly readings of atmospheric dust and will be equipped to give early warning of a problem arising from contractor's operations. Should dust levels exceed recognized limits, warning text messages will be transmitted to County Council personnel on site, who will take action to address the cause.

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Haulbowline Steelworks Site: Award of Ground Investigation Contract

2005-01-02T00:07:00.001Z

Undated 2005

Cork County Council, in conjunction with the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government, announces the award of a contract to White Young Green Ireland Ltd. Apex Business Centre, Blackthorn Road, Sandiford, Dublin 18 to carry out a ground investigation on the former steelworks site at Haulbowline island.

This site, in common with redundant steelworks in other countries, is a 'brownfield' site which has been exposed to a wide range of raw materials and waste products associated with the steelmaking process over 60 years. The aim of the contract is to carry out a thorough investigation of the ground condition and groundwater quality by means of a series of trial pits and boreholes. Some of the boreholes will be drilled over water around the island to assess the impact of the site on surrounding sediments. A comprehensive chemical analysis will be carried out on soil and water samples to check for the presence of contaminants. This investigative phase is scheduled to take about two months.

Air quality monitoring stations are being established on Haulbowline, as well as in Cobh and south of the Haulbowline bridge, so as to ensure that no dust hazard occurs, or so that any dust problem which arises can be addressed at once.

Subsequently, the results of the investigation will be analysed by White Young Green Ireland Ltd. who will indicate what remedial work may be required in respect of contamination, and consider options for the further development of the site.

Cork County Council recognizes the concern amongst local residents about the condition of the site, and is pleased to award a major contract which will scientifically establish the problems which have to be addressed.

Picture shows Michael Cunningham, MD, White Young Green Ireland Ltd., Maurice Moloney, Cork County Manager, at the contract signing. Also included are Niamh Drew, DoEHLG, Kieran O'Brien, EPA, Keith Bywater, Project Co-ordinator, Michael Saville, Site Engineer, Padraig Barrett, Area Engineer, Carrigaline, Donal Hogan, White Young Green, Marian Salter and Joan O'Doherty, Infrastructure and Development, and Mary Stack, Environment Department, CCC.

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Mittal forms world's largest steel firm

2004-10-27T00:25:00.001+01:00

By Fionnán Sheahan, Political Correspondent
Irish Examiner 27/10/04

THE last owners of Irish Steel, who have refused to pay the clean-up costs of their former Irish site, are set to form the world's largest steel company in a €14 billion deal.Lakshmi Mittal, one of the wealthiest men in Britain, and the former owner of the Ispat International site at Haulbowline, Co Cork, will merge his family's steel assets and buy the US based International Steel Group Inc.

The €14bn deal will create the world's biggest steel company, with operations in Europe, Africa, Asia and the United States. Analysts say the enlarged group will be worth €16.5bn. Mr Mittal's company is refusing to accept any responsibility for the constantly escalating costs of the €30 million clean-up of waste at the former Irish Ispat site in Cork Harbour.

Irish Steel closed in June 2001 with the loss of 450 jobs, after Ispat International bought the plant from the State for just £1 in the mid-'90s.

Ranked as Britain's fifth-richest man in 'The Sunday Times Rich List', Mr Mittal's personal fortune is believed to be in the region of €5bn.

According to Green Party TD Dan Boyle, Ispat and Mr Mittal have been allowed by the Government to walk away from their obligations at Haulbowline. "He seems to be largely in the clear. There is still a kid gloves approach there from the Government's side. I think on many levels there was room for a case to be taken," Mr Boyle said.

The clean-up operation has started and involves the removal of 80,000 tonnes of toxic material and a million tonnes of non-hazardous sludge. The €30m cost could yet turn out to be a conservative estimate.

"I would have thought that European competition laws at least would allow for a challenge. The company's market position was arguably subsidised by the Irish taxpayer and the British taxpayer," Mr Boyle said.

Netherlands-based Ispat International, 77% of which is owned by Mr Mittal, will buy the Mittal family's LNM Holdings to form a new company called Mittal Steel Co. The new Mittal Steel Co will then pay about €3.5bn to the shareholders of the Ohio-based International Steel Group. Mittal Steel will have operations in 14 countries, employ 165,000 people and have up to $1bn in capital expenditure this year.

"The combined Mittal Steel will be the largest and most global steel company in the world and will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange and Euro-next Amsterdam," Mr Mittal said yesterday.

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Taxpayer to foot €30m bill for clean-up of steel works site

2004-07-31T00:26:00.001+01:00

By Dan Collins
Irish Examiner 31/7/04

THE former owner of Irish Ispat in Cork, who recently bought a house in London for £106 million, should pick up the €30m tab for the clean up of the steel works site, according to the former chairman of Cork County Council.Indian billionaire Lakshmi Mittal, who is remembered for leaving 450 workers high and dry when he closed the plant in June 2001, should not get away free from obligation, Labour's Cllr John Mulvihill said yesterday.

A bid by the State to have the liquidator of Irish Ispat, formerly Irish Steel, meet the estimated costs of making the Haulbowline Island site environmentally safe were dismissed by the High Court yesterday.

Ms Justice Carroll granted an application by the liquidator, Ray Jackson, to be allowed disclaim an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) licence requiring a number of environmental safety conditions to be observed at the Haulbowline site.

The cost of cleaning up the site, where hazardous radioactive waste and toxic scrap materials are dumped, will be funded by the Irish taxpayer "unless Mittal is somehow held responsible", said Cllr Mulvihill, who lives near the old plant.

Referring to one of Britain's wealthiest residents, who recently spent €50m on his daughter's wedding bash, Cllr Mulvihill said: "He took over Irish Steel, asset stripped the place, laid off 450 workers and paid minimum redundancy. He also left an environmental mess behind which the Irish taxpayer is expected to pay for. This is absolutely crazy."

Cllr Mulvihill has requested a full report on the matter be brought before next September's meeting of Cork County Council.

In related proceedings brought by the State against Irish Ispat, the judge dismissed the State's proceedings. She adjourned her decision on costs.

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Liquidated steel company to abandon lease

2003-01-24T00:28:00.001Z

By Tommy Barker, Property Editor
Irish Examiner 24/1/03

THE Irish taxpayer is about to be handed a poisoned chalice - an island property with a clean-up bill likely to cost tens of millions of euro.

Liquidator of ISPAT/Irish Steel Ray Jackson of KPMG last night confirmed he is to seek High Court approval for the liquidated steel company to abandon its lease on the Haulbowline Island plant in Cork harbour.

It means the landlord, the Department of Finance, will be left facing an as-yet undetermined clean-up bill to sterilise the land which has radioactive and other pollutant problems identified by an EPA report.

Another industrial site, IFI at Marino Point, will be put on the market in Spring and may make €15-20 million.

Liquidator Ray Jackson of KPMG last night confirmed he has appointed agents CB Hamilton Osborne King to prepare the former Cork harbour-based fertiliser plant for sale.

He is also the liquidator for the long-troubled Irish Steel/ISPAT on Haulbowline Island, where a clean-up cost will run to tens of millions given the radioactive poisoning of some of the land as well as pollution from furnace dust, oils and metals.

Local public representative John Mulvihill said: "It will be a holy and utter disgrace if the State and taxpayer has to pick up this cost.

"ISPAT bought the plant for £1, got grants of millions, made money out of the plant and then walked away after five years with a fat wallet."

In comparison, Bord Gáis faced costs of €38 million to decontaminate the old gasometer in Dublin, and it cost them a further €6 million to cleanse lands in Cork where they now have their new Headquarters.

The Irish Navy has its base on Haulbowline next to Irish Steel, but a Department of Defence spokesperson said they had no interest in taking over the steel mill site.

"We have no aspirations towards it, we don't need it and we don't want it.

"Basically, it is an industrial plant which happens to be next to our base, that's all," he said. However, there will be demand for another liquidated Cork industry plant, the IFI site in Marino Point with a 100 acre plant, berth for ships and a rail spur off the Cork to Cobh rail line, plus a 125 acre farm across the road.

It may appeal to the harbour authority who are seeking to move their operations from Cork city's docks. Port of Cork chief executive Brendan Keating said the harbour authority "has to give it some thought. We cannot afford not to consider it."

However, it remains to be seen if it can afford to pursue it. The Port of Cork is looking at a number of harbour locations, including in-filling Raffeen Creek at Monkstown which will face considerable local public opposition.

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End of the line at steel plant

2002-01-11T00:29:00.001Z

By Tommy Barker
Irish Examiner 11/1/02

THE break-up of the steel-making plant at Irish Ispat has commenced. Interest has already been shown in some of the multi-million pound machinery belonging to Irish Ispat, in liquidation, from the US, Germany and even China.

Among the plant items to be sold are furnaces, casting machines, steel mills, cranes and electrical transformers. An electric arc furnace, built in 1980, is one of the largest items to be sold and moved: with a 75 MVA transformer and back-up, it reputedly has the single biggest electricity demand of any piece of machinery in the State, comparable to the energy demands of a mid-sized Irish town.

Moves to sell the actual land at Haulbowline Island in Cork harbour occupied by Irish Ispat/Irish Steel, which will raise the largest sums from Irish Ispat's liquidation, will not be made until later this year when the plant has been sold off and moved, the Irish Examiner understands.

Among those likely to have an interest in acquiring at least some of the lands will be the Naval Service and Department of Defence, which has said it is keen to get more berthage space for its adjoining Irish Naval Base at Haulbowline.

The Ispat site of c60 acres includes a dry dock, good deep water berths and some 50,000 sq metres of buildings.

Ispat's heavy steel making plant and machinery is being marketed internationally by Lisney in Dublin and Cork, who report encouraging initial interest in some of the more valuable equipment from the loss-making steel mill which went into liquidation last July.

Efforts by liquidator Ray Jackson of KPMG to find a new operator for the plant as a going concern failed to find a suitable buyer after several months of canvassing other steel-making companies - hence the break-up of the plant, where up to 400 jobs have been lost and where creditors are owed tens of millions of euros.

Mr Jackson was unavailable for comment on the break-up process as he was out of the country.

Don Meghen and Aidan Boland of Lisney are involved in the sale of the plant, and have placed advertisements in specialist magazines and journals worldwide, as well as circulating all steel manufacturing companies about the sell-off. According to Mr Meghen, it is too early to say what sums will be realised from the plant sell off, but it's likely to yield millions of euro.

Industry sources suggested at one stage since the liquidation that the total assets, including land, could come to as much as €25 million, but the vast bulk of the asset value is likely to attach to the lands.

Moves are afoot to improve the title to sections of the Irish Ispat lands with the assistance of the Department of Finance.

The company, formerly Irish Steel, was sold to Indian company Ispat for a nominal £1 after the new owners agreed to take on the £27m debt the company had run while in State ownership.

Lisneys declined to comment on what moves had been made to prepare the Ispat lands in Cork harbour, facing Cobh town, for eventual sale.

While the Navy may have an interest in some if not all of the land, and its acquisition would made sound sense in security terms as well as meeting spatial needs, sources close to the proposed new Marine College for Ringaskiddy suggested they would have no interest in locating on Haulbowline Island. Irish Ispat last year sold land close by at Ringaskiddy for about £3.5 million for the planned new marine college.

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Ispat says that surface dust is non-hazardous

2001-05-13T00:30:00.001+01:00

By Niall Murray
Irish Examiner 13/5/01

IRISH Ispat has responded to strong objections made by the Naval Service against conditions for a licence to allow the steel company continue its operations. While the Naval Service submission made at the end of March wished Ispat well, their safety adviser Lieutenant Colonel Randal Counihan expressed concern about the health of Naval personnel on the Haulbowline base alongside the 400-job steel plant.

Lt Col Counihan said the continued use of Rocky Island for storing hazardous and other waste would pose an unacceptable health and environmental hazard. He requested the steel company's landfill be closed because of danger from surface dust.

In response to these objections, Irish Ispat wrote to the Environmental Protection Agency saying the main component of the dust is slag, which is non-hazardous. Ispat's quality and environment manager, Keith Bywater wrote the dumping of slag and mill-scale on the landfill and their subsequent sale are bona fide industrial/recycling operations.

The company also said it is working to solve the problem of occasional emissions of black smoke through the plant's chimney stack.

A group of EPA inspectors must decide whether to grant a full Integrated Pollution Licence to Irish Ispat, laying down conditions on noise pollution and emissions. The EPA will consider objections to the draft licence issued in March.

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EPA may seek court order to close Irish Ispat

2001-01-17T12:41:00.001Z

RTÉ News 17/1/01

The Environmental Protection Agency has said that it will seek a High Court injunction which will close the Irish Ispat steel manufacturing plant in Cork, unless the company brings the emission of toxic dust under control. The warning is a significant threat to the future of the plant, which employs more than 300 people. In documents seen by RTÉ News, the EPA says that it is satisfied that the emissions are causing significant environmental pollution.

With a promise to invest £30 million over five years, Ispat International took over Irish Steel in May 1996 as the plant was about to close. Five years later just £19m of that money has been invested and Irish Ispat is facing difficulties over pollution which could threaten the future of the plant. Since 1999, Ispat has informed the EPA on over a dozen occasions about emissions from the plant which posed a risk of pollution. These emissions, or huge dust clouds, contained lead and other dioxins.

The EPA has given the company several opportunities to take corrective action. But now, faced with more than 70 complaints from the public and bodies such as the Naval Service and Cobh Chamber of Commerce, the EPA has threatened to seek an injunction in the High Court, which would close Irish Ispat Ireland's only steel manufacturing plant, unless the emissions stop.

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News At One

2001-01-17T12:40:00.001Z

RTÉ News 17/1/01

ISPAT plant under heavy pressure from EPA over dust emissions Two days after a fire at the ISPAT steel plant in Cork in which a man died, it has emerged that the company has been under heavy pressure from the Environmental Protection Agency to deal with dust emissions. This was so much so that the Agency has threatened to take ISPAT to the High Court. They have had more than 50 complaints.

Ciarán O'Brien, EPA Regional Manager in Cork, explains his dealings with the company.

Source (audio)

Second blast in a month at Cork steel plant

1999-08-31T12:42:00.001+01:00

RTÉ News 31/8/99

Investigations are to be carried out into an explosion at the Irish Ispat steel plant at Haulbowline in Cork. They will involve the Health and Safety Authority and the Environmental Protection Agency. The blast, which was the second in a month, shook buildings in nearby Cobh. The blast occurred at around one o'clock. Eyewitnesses say that they heard an explosion and saw a plume of black smoke rising from the main plant on the northern end of Haulbowline Island.

No spokesperson was available when Irish Ispat was contacted. However, it is believed, from sources within the plant, that the blast occurred when hot slag was dumped into a damp pit. The blast is the second this month at the Irish Ispat plant, which is Ireland's only steel plant. The first halved production and caused half a million pounds worth of damage when one of two electricity transformers exploded on August 7th.

That explosion forced the company to put its 330 workers on protective notice, but that was withdrawn after an alternative power source was secured. There have also been protests that the company has failed to inform the community in the area surrounding the plant when accidents occur there.

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