Deadly secrets of Haulbowline

[Ned Kelly]

I think it as last emerging why so many people in the harbour are carking it well before their time, they blamed smoking, alcohol, bad diets and so forth but now the major player has raised its ugly head, lagoons of pollutants on Haulbowline including Chromium 6 the second most cancer causing agent known to humanity!
Watch now as the EPA and CCC duck for cover. 300 hundred million to clean up they reckon! Thats just a start, every man, woman and child within Cork harbour should start suing the F..k out of those responsible!!!!
We swam as kids in that cancerous concoction at Whitepoint and Cuskinny!
The folk of the harbour are breathing in that noxious dust as we speak!
HELLO wake up out of your apathy for Chrissakes and do something!!!

[fullastern]

Sorry Ned, it seems we both posted the same story at the same time. maybe Mike could merge them for us..... Mike, are you out there?

[Kieran]

I got the boll--ks roasted off me in the 90's by many Cobh families when I went public of what was coming out of irish steel. Trying to close the place down and kill jobs etc etc. Everyone, including those of us who worked there were well aware of what went on there and how it effected the environment but a collective blind eye was turned. We on the council were told about 4 years ago of the cost to clean the place up. €30million and upwards was quoted to us then by a rep from the department of the marine. They have a long way to go yet and are cutting back with costs!

[Ned Kelly]

But whats been done about it, gormley says all those in the harbour area are safe??? Bollox he does'nt even know whats buried in those lagoons on haulbowline! So how can he say people are safe??? Let the population of the harbour get blood tests done to see what is actually in their systems. Now is the time to get these arseholes to fess up about what has been swept under the carpet for the last 50 years or more!

[Kieran]

I worked with a cork based environemtal group in the mid 90's and we took samples from a gable wall of a house at Russell Heights that was coated in a red substance. They sent the samples to Exeter University lab and it came back as having a lot of heavy metals in it. I went public with it in the papers but no one was interested. Nearly all the gables of the houses here on the heights have are coated in red now. The problem with John Gormley and the Greens is that they are no longer in opposition!

[Ned Kelly]

This is your chance to make a huge difference Kieran, people will be interested now, the irish steel jobs have gone so there are no vested interests. Do not let these arseholes cover up what is a crime!

[Kieran]

Its going to take years and years to get to the bottom of this, and it will be like trying to get in to Roswell to find out whats there now.

[fullastern]

Here's a video of the demolition of the main furnace hall at Irish Steel almost 2 years ago.

http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=sOmlpNPIf8A

I think some of that dust is still on my top floor windows at the back of the house (I'm not an acrobat, window cleaning at that height is for the birds)

[Ned Kelly]

Chromium(VI) is a danger to human health, mainly for people who work in the steel and textile industry. People who smoke tobacco also have a higher chance of exposure to chromium.

Chromium(VI) is known to cause various health effects. When it is a compound in leather products, it can cause allergic reactions, such as skin rash. After breathing it in chromium(VI) can cause nose irritations and nosebleeds.
Other health problems that are caused by chromium(VI) are:

- Skin rashes
- Upset stomachs and ulcers
- Respiratory problems
- Weakened immune systems
- Kidney and liver damage
- Alteration of genetic material
- Lung cancer
- Death

[Kieran]

When I worked there in the 80's I'd often be sent with the mechanics to fix the motors up on the overhead gantry cranes. There would be atleast 16 inches of dust on top of the cranes and gurders at any one time. Bert Berklar a young man from White Point was in charge of Crane maintanence and spent alot of time up working in the dust. Bert who was young and was a couple of years ahead of me in school (you would have known him Ned) is about ten years dead now (cancer).

[Ned Kelly]

I have no memory of Bert, but his surname is familiar!
Irish steel, naval dockyard, naval base workers and personnell. all those employed in servicing the island would be at most risk I'd imagine and then on down the line to ringaskiddy, cobh, spike and so on!
The government of the day is going to try and bury this as quick as they can cos they are looking at billions in compensatiion and billions more to make the area safe to live in!
Everybody is entitled to a safe environment to live and work in, so lets keep the bastards honest!

[Ned Kelly]

04 July 2008

Toxic dump raises questions about infill sites
04 July 2008

Toxic dump raises questions about infill sites

AS a result of various debates in Cork County Council and interviews with environmental health officials on the toxic dump scandal at Haulbowline in Cork Habour, I believe that in the interests of public safety, there is need for immediate action by pollution control officers to prevent this toxic pollution leaching into the sea.


I have always had fears about the creation of infill sites and the monitoring, if any, of materials dumped and buried in them.

From the current scandal highlighted by the Irish Examiner (June 27), we learn that hazardous material was exposed when contractors began to dig down.

This aspect of the problem raises questions about infill sites that are mushrooming all over the country. Small wonder that scientific analysis of materials dumped are being sought by concerned residents in the Cork harbour area. Some people living there fear this toxic pollution could contaminate public water supplies. Having sought professional advice on this question, I am advised however “that pollution is unlikely to affect public water supplies but could enter the human food chain through fish in the harbour”.





Cobh, Aghada, Rostellan and Ringaskiddy are all pitched right on the tidal paths. Tides, we are advised, could spread toxic waste.

We must be vigilant.

The time for talking is over. What we need now is action to eliminate thispotentially fatal cloud that looms over the steelworks site in Cork Harbour.

Cllr Noel Collins
‘St Jude’s’
Midleton
Co Cork

Midleton Councillor :confused:

[Ned Kelly]

Just an addition to the above by Cllr.Noel Collins.
In my humble opinion the pollution from the irish steel has been going on from day one,50 years ago. its only now that it is coming to light from the media! I knew it 30 odd years ago as most of the people did but we said feckall because there were jobs involved. When employment is concerned folk look the other way! Look at pfizer for instance they used to dump their poisonous chemicals outside the harbour numerous times per year for it only to be washed up onshore on the next springtide!

[fullastern]

He represents the Midleton Electoral Area, which includes Cobh, Midleton and Youghal.

[Ned Kelly]

Ahh Shite and I thought we had our own councillors, thanx for putting me straight on that fulla!

[Kieran]

We have Mulvihill on the county too but --- I'll say no more. SF councillor Martin Hallanihan went to get standing orders suspended last week over the steel but you know yourself!

[Ned Kelly]

Heads will roll, whitewash and coverups will not fool the people for long!
Haulbowlinegate won't go away!

[Ned Kelly]

http://www.independent.ie/independent.ie/images/logo-independentdublin.png (http://www.independent.ie/)


Our poisoned paradise










By Nicola Anderson

Saturday July 12 2008

The view from Mary O'Leary (http://www.independent.ie/topics/Mary+O%27Leary)'s garden, amid the drowsy drone of bees, is as beautiful as any you will find in Ireland (http://www.independent.ie/topics/Ireland): a wraparound vista of Cork Harbour (http://www.independent.ie/topics/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 (http://www.independent.ie/topics/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 (http://www.independent.ie/topics/Kinsale+%28County+Cork%29) or a Schull, the town has found itself oddly left behind, with residents telling of how tourists might briefly visit Cobh (http://www.independent.ie/topics/Cobh+%28County+Cork%29) 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 (http://www.independent.ie/topics/Peter+Griffin) of Louis J O'Regan Ltd (http://www.independent.ie/topics/Louis+J+O%27Regan+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 (http://www.independent.ie/topics/United+Kingdom) in December 2007 and one came back with 'huge levels of mercury', waste samples sent to Germany (http://www.independent.ie/topics/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 (http://www.independent.ie/topics/Europe) for processing. One local man told the Irish Independent (http://www.independent.ie/topics/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 (http://www.independent.ie/topics/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 (http://www.independent.ie/topics/ISPAT), the steel company owned by billionaire Lakshmi Mittal (http://www.independent.ie/topics/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 (http://www.independent.ie/topics/Hammond+Lane+Metal+Company) sub-contractors, Louis J O'Regan (http://www.independent.ie/topics/Louis+J+O%27Regan) uncovered the potentially highly toxic sub-surface waste.
Peter Cunningham (http://www.independent.ie/topics/Peter+Cunningham), Senior Licence Enforcement Inspector at the Environmental Protection Agency (http://www.independent.ie/topics/U.S.+Environmental+Protection+Agency)'s Cork (http://www.independent.ie/topics/County+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 (http://www.independent.ie/topics/Department+of+the+Environment%2c+Heritage+%26+Loca l+Government).
"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 (http://www.independent.ie/topics/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 (http://www.independent.ie/topics/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 (http://www.independent.ie/topics/White+Young+Green+plc), 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 (http://www.independent.ie/topics/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 (http://www.independent.ie/topics/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 (http://www.independent.ie/topics/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.
- Nicola Anderson










http://stats.independent.ie/eae-logger/Logger?rt=1&objId=1431659&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.independent.ie%2Ftemplate%2Fv er1-0%2Fwireframe%2FwfDublin.jsp&type=article&pubId=67443&ctxId=2708&cat=&meta=&title=Our+poisoned+paradise& http://unisonsdc.commtech.ie/dcsr853jvvuunnjdcdx42n1ud_8t7n/njs.gif?dcsuri=/nojavascript&WT.js=No

[fullastern]

Whatever about the slag heap I certainly wouldn't like to see chi-chi restaurants and boutiques in Cobh (whatever they are).

[Ned Kelly]

Chi chis were a brand of mexican cafes popular in yankeeland.
But I tell you what fulla I'd rather see chi chis in the town rather than people dying of various form of cancer! What say you?
Sometimes methinks folks do not have one iota about what the ferk is goin on in their own backyards!

[fullastern]

I would agee with Ned but they can keep their chi chis or chihuahas, whatever they are.

[Ned Kelly]

Monday July 21 2008
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 (http://www.independent.ie/topics/County+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 (http://www.independent.ie/topics/Department+of+the+Environment%2c+Heritage+%26+Loca l+Government) and the Environmental Protection Agency (http://www.independent.ie/topics/U.S.+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.m 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 (http://www.independent.ie/topics/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.
- Ralph Riegel

[Ned Kelly]

http://adserver.adtech.de/adserv%7C3.0%7C257%7C1067126%7C0%7C1%7CADTECH;loc= 300;key=key1+key2+key3+key4;grp=2003 (http://adserver.adtech.de/adlink%7C3.0%7C257%7C1067126%7C0%7C1%7CADTECH;loc= 300;key=key1+key2+key3+key4;grp=2003) http://adserver.adtech.de/adserv%7C3.0%7C257%7C1116986%7C0%7C4%7CADTECH;loc= 300;key=key1+key2+key3+key4;grp=2003 (http://adserver.adtech.de/adlink%7C3.0%7C257%7C1116986%7C0%7C4%7CADTECH;loc= 300;key=key1+key2+key3+key4;grp=2003) Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Gormley to seek funds for clean-up of Haulbowline

By Sean O’Riordan
ENVIRONMENT Minister John Gormley is to ask his cabinet colleagues to fund a multi-million-euro clean-up of Ireland’s worst toxic waste dump.


Green party senator Dan Boyle has confirmed Mr Gormley wants to decontaminate the site in Cork’s lower harbour.

However, he warned that such an operation could take up to 10 years to complete.

“It is the most contaminated site in Ireland and it has to be dealt with. Obviously the Government finances aren’t in the most healthy state at present, but public safety takes precedence,” said Mr Boyle. http://cdn1.eyewonder.com/200125/754336/985104/NOSCRIPTfailover.jpg (http://adserver.adtech.de/adlink%7C257%7C1067124%7C0%7C170%7CAdId=1827503;Bn Id=4;itime=43811684;key=key1+key2+key3+key4;nodeco de=yes;link=http://www.eyewonderlabs.com/ct.cfm?ewbust=0&file=http://cdn1.eyewonder.com/200125/754336/985104/NOSCRIPTfailover.jpg&eid=985104&name=Clickthru-NOSCRIPT&num=1&time=0&diff=0&click=http://www.vfi.ie/) http://adserver.adtech.de/adserv%7C3.0%7C257%7C1067124%7C0%7C170%7CADTECH;lo c=300;key=key1+key2+key3+key4;grp=2003 (http://adserver.adtech.de/adlink%7C3.0%7C257%7C1067124%7C0%7C170%7CADTECH;lo c=300;key=key1+key2+key3+key4;grp=2003)


Some estimates have put the clean-up bill for the Haulbowline site as high as €300 million.

A total of 100,000 tonnes of waste has already been removed, but a further 500,000 tonnes remain.

Party leaders on Cork County Council and members of Cobh Town Council are due to meet Mr Gormley on Friday. It is expected the minister will brief them on the contents of a preliminary report compiled by consultants.

A final report is expected to be completed before the end of the month.

In an unprecedented move, Cork County Council has passed a motion of “no confidence” in the Environment Minister over his handling of the issue.

Mr Boyle described the vote as “a bit rich”.

The discovery of the waste emerged last June and local politicians are incensed it has taken until now for the minister to brief them.

“From early on the minister agreed to a meeting with local public representatives when he was next down in Cork, which is this Friday. He arranged for a special briefing for councillors, which has taken place in Dublin with department officials. He has also met local people,” said Mr Boyle.

“I think it’s a bit rich that they pass a vote of no confidence just days before they are due to meet him.”

Cllr John Mulvihill, who proposed the no confidence motion, said the fact it was passed with a clear majority showed how angry local politicians were with Mr Gormley.

“We did meet with consultants in Dublin at the end of July. The minister was in Dublin the same day and he didn’t have the courtesy to meet us,” said Mr Mulvihill.

He said he would be demanding on Friday that Mr Gormley give a written commitment to totally clean up the Haulbowline site.

[Kieran]

Hym -the above said councillor barracked those of us who complained or attempted to highlight the pollution in the past when it was created. His party and government colleague Ruiri Quinn didnt seemed the slightest bit concerned about pollution there or a clean up, when he sold it for £1 to the indian giants Ispat. -Feck the crocodile tears now!

As for Mr Gormley, he is now insisting that he will not discuss any other matter with us , only Irish Steel. That means he will refuse to discuss the matter of a Boundary change for Cobh -its application is sitting on his desk unanswered for a year and a half. Also a new system of allocating council houses designed by our own housing sub-committee also awaits his approval -thats been on his desk for over 3 years and that of his predecessor. Should be a very fun meeting!

[Ned Kelly]

Don't let them outa town without something in writing, once there back in dublin ye'll soon be forgotten!

[Kieran]

A bit shouting match with plenty of smoke and mirrors but little substance. The meja seemed interesed in what I had to say about my days working there in the 1980's. RTE and TV3 interviewd me. I was more interested in the other issues that were not discussed. Gormley met us privately for less than 5 mins in the Town Clerks office on those but again gave no commitments. He did promise me that he would investigate the rumour that dangerous waste was buried beneath the new crematorium on Rocky Island. All in All -not a lot achieved for our grandkids!

[fullastern]

I heard the shouting match on the 1pm radio news on RTÉ today - Mulvihill made a right fool of himself. I share his anger at what has been allowed happen by successive governments and his frustration at Gormley's wriggling out of answering questions, but Mulvihill helped Gormley get off the hook by barracking him and everybody else. If he felt that way he should have been protesting outside the door but I think he just went on a cheap publicity stunt for himself - in the end there was a stand off with Mulvihill Jr (the current mayor) trying to control his father. A sick joke, meanwhile the toxic timebomb is ticking away.

Here's an audio link to the outburst from RTÉ radio 1:

http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0912/haulbowline_av.html?2421610,null,209

[fullastern]

Saw you on television last night Kieran - I reckon Gormley was on a PR exercise.

[Ned Kelly]

Fulla why do you say that mulvihill senior made a fool of himself???
Whatever happened in the past with labour, that does'nt matter one feckin iota now,
I thought maybe he had regretted what had happened in the past and now realised his mistakes and was tryin to make up for it?
Gormley and his *experts* can say what they want about no immediate danger from the toxic pile which is haulbowline, does that mean with the next spring tide or the next gale force wind won't carry its deadly cargo into the lungs of the harbour residents?

[fullastern]

I agree with what Mulvihill was saying but I think he ruined the chance for the councillors to put real pressure and tough questions to Gormley - with Mulvihill on the attack Gormley was able to sit back and get away with his plamás.

[Ned Kelly]

Plamass,Shite theres a word I haven't heard in many a year!
I think the aussie version would be (don't piss in my pocket)

[Kieran]

Lads- I was there. It was a Cobh Town Council meeting that we waited months for but at the 11th hour were told that we had to share with Co Councillors and that only one topic was up for discussion.

Mulvilhill as usual dominated it for a stunt for the cameras. Gormley rose from his chair and said I cant conduct my business like this. He was about to walk out without answering any of our questions, but changed his mind when Mulvihill was talked into sitting down first. Mulvihill didnt or couldnt give a feck that we too had questions (real meningful questions) to put to the minister.

This is the same man that called the guards to Irish Steel workers when they marched on his clinic 10 years before. The same TD that spent every Council meeting condemning the rest of us when we objected to Merel Dow chemical plant coming to Kileagh and called us liars and scare mongers for telling people that Dow Chemicals were the producers of Agent Orange that was used in Viatnam.
I spent years on the Council with him -if he has been suddenly converted to doing the right thing, its only because his facing into an election!

[Ned Kelly]

Do u disagree with what mulvihill senior said then K?
I don't know much if anything about his past politics but I agree with what he said to gormley!

[Ned Kelly]

Monday, September 22, 2008

Dump controversy: the jury is still out

AS you reported (September 12), there were angry scenes at a briefing for local councillors on the Haulbowline toxic dump scandal, by Environment Minister John Gormley in the Town Hall in Cobh, Co Cork.


Cllr John Mulvihill (Snr) lashed the minister and called for his resignation for his handling of the situation.

From working with Cllr Mulvihill, I know this is a very emotive issue for him.

He lives in Cobh and is well aware of the fears of people for their health and welfare not alone from the Haulbowline dump, but the proposed siting of an incinerator and high tension ESB lines in the harbour area.

Cllr Mulvihill’s views on these environmental issues and their effects on human life are supported by other councillors, including myself, and his outburst when meeting the minister only served to emphasise his sensitivity to the problem.

While Minister Gormley has assured us there is no immediate health risk from the 500,000 tonnes of toxic waste on Haulbowline island, the jury is still out on the issue.

Fears about the risks to health from the dump are very real. Not enough is known about the subject and, with experts differing, the public are confused and frightened. They are also angry that a dump of such magnitude and with such enormous potential radically to change their lives is still there.

It is they, not Minister Gormley or the local authority, who have to contend with the downside of the issue on a daily basis and the very least they are entitled to is to be fully informed on all aspects of it.

All of this may yet necessitate a public inquiry.

Cllr Noel Collins
St Jude’s
Midleton
Co Cork