No move to tackle toxic waste in harbour

THE Office of Public Works (OPW) has not yet established a working group to deal with tonnes of toxic waste dumped in Cork harbour – more than three months after being directed to do so by Environment Minister John Gormley.

On July 7, Mr Gormley disclosed he had asked the OPW to set up a working group to tackle the toxic dump.

The lethal carcinogenic Chromium 6 was among the chemicals found buried at the Cork Harbour site.

In reply to a recent Dáil question from Deputy David Stanton, Mr Gormley said it was “understood that preparations are under way within the OPW in respect of the establishment of the group”.

Yesterday, 100 days after the ministerial decision, the working group still hadn’t been set up.

An OPW spokeswoman said it was “in the process of establishing a working group and hoped to have it finalised shortly”.

But Mr Stanton, who has repeatedly raised the issue in the Dáil, said he was aghast at the OPW’s response.

“The people of Cobh and the lower harbour deserve better than this. There are serious health concerns down there and this needs to be sorted out,” the Fine Gael TD said.

The Government has already spent nearly €50 million removing toxic waste from the former Irish Ispat site. But tomes of dangerous waste still remain.

“It’s almost 18 months since the presence of dangerous and toxic waste was revealed. However, despite the commissioning of numerous consultant environmental reports, site surveys and investigations, the Government has done nothing,” Mr Stanton said.

“We have no working committee set up yet, so God knows when they are actually going to report their findings.

“I’m very disappointed, especially with our Green minister. This should have been treated in a far more urgent matter from day one. All the stops should have been pulled out to get it sorted,” Mr Stanton declared.

He said the sea was washing over the dump site which was totally unacceptable in terms of protecting health and the environment.