Pollution may be linked to animal deaths

INDUSTRIAL pollution may have been partly responsible for hundreds of unexplained animal deaths in Limerick, according to a report commissioned by the IFA.

The study was also heavily critical of a €5.3m report by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which failed to identify the cause of deaths among farm animals in Askeaton.

Hundreds of animals have died mysteriously in Askeaton over the last 13 years. Health Minister Micheál Martin has refused to launch an inquiry into how vital pathology samples were mislaid by the Mid-Western Health Board. Local families claim the blood samples could have provided vital clues as to the cause of the health problems.