The Environmental Protection Agency and Cork County Council would have to look closely at a British report into birth defects in those living near landfills, a spokesman for the Bottlehill Environmental Alliance said yesterday.
Bottlehill, midway between Cork and Mallow, is the site chosen by the county council for Cork's new "superdump". It is planned that all domestic waste from Cork city and county will be brought to the dump for landfill after it has been segregated.
The main landfill site in the city, at Kinsale Road, is nearing its end after almost three decades as Cork's main dump. When Bottlehill, nearby Grenagh and Watergrasshill were identified as potential sites for a new dump the three communities began to lobby against the suggestion.
After extensive study, the council opted for Bottlehill. But the residents' group there warned that leachate from the dump could pollute local rivers, from which domestic water supplies are obtained. The Bottlehill Environmental Alliance claimed also that public health could be affected by dust emissions and odours.
Its spokesman, Mr John O'Riordan, said yesterday if the report was truly independent the county council and EPA would have to take it seriously.
"We are aware that reports in the US have identified potential health risks to people who live in the vicinity of landfill sites, particularly toxic landfill sites, and any independent report coming from Britain where the landfill regime is similar to our own would have to be treated on its merits," Mr O'Riordan said.
Before the Bottlehill site is licensed as a superdump, Cork County Council must satisfy the EPA on a whole range of issues.