Cancer kills 55 in two-mile radius

THERE were 55 deaths from cancer - three times the national average - in a small area of Co Limerick where residents claim industrial pollution has harmed public health.

Residents in the Cappagh/Croagh area of Askeaton believe the region is a cancer cluster as a result of industrial pollution. The incidence of cancer is increasing annually and it has almost doubled in the last two years. The cluster is now spreading to surrounding regions, locals claim.

A 5.3 million EPA-led environmental investigation ruled out any link between industrial pollution and human and animal health problems in the area. The investigation was carried out between 1995 and 1998, but the findings were not published until 2001.

However, the Cappagh Farmers Support Group (CFSG) yesterday identified 70 cases of cancer in a four-and-a-half-mile pocket of land, which has a population of under 800 people. The research shows 55 people died from cancer-related illnesses in the area in the last five years.

Yesterday, Labour’s health spokeswoman Liz McManus backed a call for a new independent Askeaton health investigation. “This has gone on for too long and at this stage we need an independent expert to examine what’s happening and hopefully restore confidence among locals.”

The CFSG has urged Mid Western Health Board chief executive Stiofain de Burca to immediately investigate the cancer cluster claim. The group also wants the MWHB’s director of public health Dr Kevin Kelleher to resign. Dr Kelleher said research carried out by the National Cancer Registry proved there was no cancer cluster in Askeaton: “The data shows there is no excess cancer in that area. We have asked the CFSG to provide us with whatever information they have and we will be happy to examine it.”

But CFSG spokesman Pat Geoghegan said Dr Kelleher’s statistics are four years out of date: “This has started happening in the last couple of years but the health board are only looking at the period up to 1999. People young and old are living in fear they are going to develop cancer.”

The CFSG said the figures confirm their fears are well founded and they have called for a new health inquiry. Local farmers believe human and animal health problems stem from industrial pollution, a view not backed by the EPA investigation.