Council green light to test old dump for environmental threat
Thursday July 24 2008
The former landfill site is one of seven around the county operated by Cork County Council between the 1950s and 1990s that are being surveyed under guidelines issued last year by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Each of the seven sites has been given a priority rating from high to low risk.
Three of the sites in question ? all of which are situated in west Cork ? fall into the high-risk category; another three, including one at Velvetstown in Buttevant, are considered ?moderate risk?, with the Fermoy site classed as ?low risk?.
All seven sites were operated by Cork County Council between the 1950s and 1990s and are now classed as being ?legacy landfills?, meaning they are no longer in use.
According a tender document issued by the council for the assessment project, EPA guidelines issued in April 2007, governing unregulated waste disposal sites, allow for the investigation of what it described as ?old landfill sites? that operated up to 1997 ?without the proper permitting and authorisation system? as laid down by EU directives.
A local authority spokesman said that, under the guidelines, all local authorities are obliged to carry out studies on former landfill sites.
The spokesman said it was their belief that the quarter-acre site in Fermoy, which has been closed down for more than two decades, poses no risk to people living in its proximity. The landfill site was only in operation for approximately two-years during the mid 1980s. In that time it was used mainly for construction and demolition waste,? he said.
It is believed that the assessment of the Fermoy site will take place before the end of the year.
The council have issued a tender document to prospective contractors for the assessment project, in which it states that one of the key objectives is to ?determine if there is a pollution risk from each of the landfill sites?.
The contractor will also be expected to check for the presence of residual landfill gas and assess the risk that it may pose to the surrounding environment. They will also be charged with ensuring that all of the sites included within the project are made safe.
The local authority has set aside ?200,000 to cover the cost of the investigation.
Fermoy town mayor Tadhg O?Donovan welcomed the move, saying that it was important that local people are aware of any potential risks posed by the former dump.I would call on the council to move swiftly to reassure people that the dump does not pose a risk to people living in the area,? said Cllr O?Donovan, ?particularly, given the recent high-profile cases related to sites in other areas of the county,?
he added.
