The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has confirmed it is investigating a fourth incident at a pharmaceutical factory in Cork after a company reported an increase in acidity levels at a containment pond discharging into a local stream.
According to the EPA, staff at the Eli Lilly plant at Dunderrow, Kinsale, discovered on August 12th that acidity levels had risen in an outflow from a containment pond.
The EPA yesterday said it received a report from Eli Lilly by fax to its Cork office at 4.48pm on August 15th and that the company estimated the change in acidity was caused by a discharge of 250 litres.
EPA inspectors visited the site on Tuesday and checked both the stream and ground-water wells.
"Initial indications are that the estimated release of 250 litres has had no environmental impact," a spokesman said.
According to the EPA, the pH level was 5.5 which, according to chemical engineer and pharmaceutical plant design consultant Peter North, is just outside the acceptable pH range of 6 to 9.
Dr North said the initial discharge may not prove significant but he did express concern about what else might have been in the containment pond and whether anything was released and how the company came up with its estimate that 250 litres were released.
The incident is the fourth in the pharmaceutical industry in Cork to be reported by the EPA in the past six weeks and follows the spillage of 255 tonnes of caustic soda during an unloading operation at ADM in Ringaskiddy in July.
It also follows the reporting of two incidents by GlaxoSmith-Kline of incidents at its plant at Currabinny, Carrigaline, including the mislabelling of a pipe which resulted in waste destined for incineration ending up in a containment pond and a spillage of a caustic solution.
"This incident of itself may not be significant," Dr North said. "We don't know it's too early to say but the sheer number of incidents being reported to the EPA by the pharmaceutical industry in Cork is naturally going to make people concerned.
"The majority of these incidents may turn out to be trivial but at the moment, the EPA seems more concerned about responding to the criticism about not warning people than about first determining whether an incident is significant or not."
Eli Lilly confirmed the change in pH was picked up by the company's continuous monitoring of discharges on Friday and that tests on local water sources had found the incident had "absolutely no impact".
