Toxic spillage covered up, claim Greens

The Environmental Protection Agency has been accused of a cover-up after it failed to notify the public of a toxic spillage in Co Cork for nearly three weeks.

Over 250,000 litres of caustic soda escaped into Cork Harbour while being unloaded from a tanker at Ringaskiddy on July 2.

The Green Party tonight claimed that the EPA did not tell the public of the accident until July 21 and later pulled an official report from its website.

Cork TD and chief whip Dan Boyle has demanded answers from the watchdog ahead of a public meeting in Ringaskiddy tonight.

He said: “Local people deserve an explanation into why they weren’t told of a toxic spillage into their environment for three weeks. It’s just not good enough. It smacks of a cover-upto me.”

Mr Boyle claimed an official EPA report into the incident appeared on the body’s website last month but was later withdrawn.

The EPA’s deputy director general Dr Padraic Larkin is due to attend tonight’s meeting and face questions from top-table speakers and attendance members.

A cargo of caustic soda was being unloaded from a ship into storage tanks at the ADM plant at Ringaskiddy in Cork harbour on July 2 when some 255,000 litres escaped trough an open valve into the sea.

The leak was discovered within half an hour and ADM’s site emergency plan was put into operation.

The company manufactures citric acid for soft drinks and caustic soda is one of the ingredients.

The EPA said the spillage was a serious incident but there was no risk to human health and the impact on marine life was localised and short-lived.

An official EPA report into the spillage found errors in the unloading process used by the company.

Inspector Michael Owens said valves on a pipeline were not checked to see that they were properly closed before the caustic soda was pumped from a ship.

Mr Owens also found that an alarm designed to warn of low pressure in the pipeline had sounded for 20-25 minutes but the two operators involved in unloading the cargo assumed it was caused by problems with the ship’s pumps.

The inspector said it had “extreme concern” that ADM staff didn’t double-check that the valves were closed before unloading and recommended that an electronic-control system be in place.