Summer date for clean up at Haulbowline dump

It will be summer at the earliest before any major work gets under way to make safe a toxic waste dump in Cork harbour, city officials have said.

Deputy county manager Declan Daly yesterday issued a report to councillors on progress at the East Tip dump on Haulbowline island, which is adjacent to the former Irish Steel/Irish Ispat plant.

The existence of the dump was revealed by the Irish Examiner in June 2008. It contained a number of heavy metals and the highly carcinogenic Chromium 6.