Clean-up of Cork asbestos dump 30 years after protests to cost taxpayer €1m

THE taxpayer will foot a €1 million-plus bill to clean up a 30-year-old asbestos dump in Cork harbour.

The 1.4-hectare dump site at Barnahely in Ringaskiddy sparked a bitter environmental protest when it opened in 1978. It was shut down two years later.

The operation to remove almost 800 tonnes of hazardous material will start within two weeks and is expected to take about 10 weeks to complete. The material will be shipped to Germany for disposal.

The opposition halted dumping and forced the closure of the site in 1980.

The confrontations cost the company an estimated £1 million.

Raybestos officials arrived in Cork in October 1980 to announce their decision to close the plant in November of that year with the loss of all 130 jobs.

Campaigners have called for several years for the dump to be cleaned up.

The IDA has confirmed the operation will begin within two weeks.

The board of the IDA has decided the safest option is to remove all the material and restore the site to its pre-landfill condition, said Brian Conroy, the IDA's southern director. It will be removed under controlled conditions, sealed inside special containers and shipped to a waste facility near Hanover in Germany, he said. "We have a team of specialist contractors on board and independent health and safety experts to monitor the operation. And there will be 24-hour security on site."

IDA officials have called to 60 homes close to the site to inform residents of the operation and communication will be ongoing.

There are no specific plans for the site but it could have future industrial uses, Mr Conroy said.

Labour TD Ciarán Lynch said the operation would resolve one of Cork's most contentious environmental issues.

"I am calling on the IDA to ensure every health and safety procedure is in place during the excavation period," he said.

Local Fine Gael county councillor, Tim Lombard, said the clean-up would be done to the highest safety standards.

Eoin English
Irish Examiner

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