The HSE (Health and Safety Execuitve) South, has submitted as the statutory body responsible for public health and safety to An Bord Pleanala its concerns that there has been no meaningful public consultation in relation to the application, that that no health impact assessment in relation to human beings has been done, and has called for a baseline health study to be carried out. Correspondence from the HSE to An Bord Pleanala is available on www.chaseireland.org
Chief Emergency Officer at the HSE, Mr Peter Daly, had spoken at the Oral Hearing in 2009 in a personal capacity, where he outlined how distances claimed as safe in the application will be regarded by emergency response agencies as well inside danger zone. (Press Release 15/6/09 – www.chaseireland.org/releases/15-06-09.htm)
HSE Environmental Officer Declan Hamilton, has now made the HSE concerns formal, highlighting concerns regarding lack of data with regard to cancer statistics around modern incinerators and calling for a baseline health study of people in Cork Harbour.
Mr Daly, whose function it is to prepare emergency plans for the HSE for all type of Major Emergencies, has formally re-iterated his concerns in relation to the application and outlined his fears in relation to the inventory that Indaver want to burn and the danger it poses to populations and indeed his own staff, in the event of an explosion or fire.
Mary O’Leary says “It’s time to bring some accountability into play in this project. The HSE is the taxpayers organization charged with public health, and they are clearly stating that the baseline information is inadequate and that areas of the Maritime College (NMCI) are inside the danger zone. The taxpayer has also funded the NMCI to the tune of over €100m, and would like some guarantee that this investment is not going to be threatened.
This danger zone will also take in the new MERC3 (Maritime and Energy Research Campus And Commercial Cluster), (layout pic attached) which has received approval for €8m in government research funding alongside other public monies. Those given the responsibility for this significant investment by the taxpayer, have a moral and professional obligation to protect these public monies and to object to this application given the information we now have available about the danger it poses to these developments.
Over the last 10 years Cork County and City Council, numerous politicians, statutory bodies, planners and numerous geological and medical experts have joined CHASE in presenting evidence that this site is fundamentally unsuitable for a hazardous waste incinerator.”
Submissions to ABP will be closing Wednesday 16 Feb, 2011.
ENDS