Any risk to four families living near a dump in north Kildare from methane gas discharges has been minimised, according to Kildare County Council. There had been no immediate risk to the residents from the flammable gas, but a temporary evacuation was recommended as a precaution.
From today, a specialist company will deploy new ventilation measures in the houses beside the dump at Silliot Hill, five miles outside Kilcullen and close to the Naas to Killcullen road. The problem will be re-evaluated at the weekend, with the possibility that the families can return to their homes before Christmas, said county secretary Mr Harry Lyons.
Residents have been complaining of gas discharges from the landfill, which serves a large section of the county and is due to close once an alternative site is found. "As a precaution we advised the householders that the houses should be vacated on a temporary basis.
"A specialist company will be setting in place ventilation measures in the curtilage of the houses to release the gas into the atmosphere before it reaches the houses," said Mr Lyons. The gas is released from organic waste and earth.
Test boreholes made last weekend revealed "very small concentrations" in the curtilage of four houses and inside two. "Any risk to the houses has now been minimised by ventilation," said Mr Lyons.
Methane is odourless but can easily combine with other gases discharged in waste. When trapped in large volumes it can be explosive, but not in the concentrations found in the houses. With doors and windows being opened during the day, the buildings would be entirely safe now, but there was a small risk of a build-up at night, he said.
Mr John Foley, who had to leave his house along with his wife and three children, said it was a double blow as he operated his business from a home workshop.
Their health had been endangered by the gas problem, which had been evident for the past five or six years and now their livelihood had been taken away.
Silliot Hill dump has been in operation for more than a decade and is approaching the end of its life-span. The council, nonetheless, is required to spend £1 million a year on upgrading it to meet Environmental Protection Agency requirements and the terms of the 1996 Waste Management Act. It is about to engage consultants to identify a new landfill option.
Meanwhile, the council has asked the company employed to extract gas from the landfill from next month and convert it to energy to start work sooner, to reduce gas coming from the site.
