Flood defence doubt over toxin

THE future of a €35m flood relief scheme in Kilkenny City is in doubt following the discovery of a cancer-causing toxin in silt removed from the river bed in the past few weeks.

The highly-toxic substance, PCB (polychlorinated biphenyl) was found in spoil from the river deposited on a green area used by children at Dukesmeadows, off the Bennettsbridge Road and at Ossory Bridge in Kilkenny City.

The Office of Public Works (OPW) met to discuss the future of the scheme last night and is to meet with a number of other health and environmental organisations, including the South Eastern Health Board, over the coming days.

They will debate any potential threats and delays in the flood relief scheme. Results from tests carried out by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are due in six weeks.

Local Fianna Fáil TD John McGuinness said that the public was being fed misinformation about the threat of PCBs.

The residents’ association at Dukesmeadows has written to the Environment Minister, Martin Cullen, demanding action.

The toxin traces were found in a field near their homes which will be used by the children of the area. The residents feel that such contaminated river sediment should not be disposed of on a site where children will be playing.

“We are not experts and therefore cannot comment on the hazards that this sediment might pose to human health,” the secretary of the Dukesmeadows Residents’ Association, Marian O’Sullivan has outlined in a letter which has been sent to the environment minister.

The OPW confirmed that given the history of PCB spillage in the area after an accident at Guinness Ireland in 1980, it was decided to test the spoil removed from the river.