FIRE BRIGADE personnel and Coast Guard volunteers safely removed a canister containing a hazardous gas washed up on Lahinch beach late on Sunday night.
The alarm was raised at about 8pm when a man walking along the Co Clare beach called the regional fire control centre in Limerick to report two metal canisters. Gardaí, the Doolin unit of the Irish Coast Guard and three units of Ennistymon Fire Brigade were involved in the incident. A comprehensive search was undertaken but just one container, about 300mm in height, was discovered close to the shore. After an examination of its label, the area was cordoned off and the public prevented from accessing the beach.
Fire crews, led by chief fire officer for Co Clare Adrian Kelly, equipped and trained to deal with hazardous materials, donned protective clothing and breathing apparatus. The cylinder contained a liquefied gas called chlorodifluoromethane used in refrigeration.
The gas, being phased out worldwide, can cause damage to human organs as well as respiratory tract, eye and skin irritation.
It was decided the canister should be moved to a safe location overnight and a special isolation “overdrum” for hazardous materials was brought from Shannon. After almost three hours, the drum was placed in the sealed container and removed under escort to Ennistymon fire station.
It is understood the container, covered in barnacles, had been in the water for sometime. It may have been washed overboard from a ship and have lain at the bottom of the sea for a time before being disturbed and washed ashore.