€40m package to clean up Haulbowline toxic dump

THE Cabinet is expected to sign off today on a €40 million package to begin the clean-up of one of Ireland’s largest toxic waste dumps.

After years of surveys and reports on the contaminated former Irish Steel/Irish Ispat plant in Cork Harbour, the Cabinet is poised to approve the setting aside of €20m in the 2012 budget and €20m in the 2013 budget to tackle the site on Haulbowline island.

The site contains slag heaps — byproducts of the steel-making process — including the deadly carcinogen chromium 6 and a number of heavy metals.