An inter-agency group will meet next week to ascertain who will finance the rehabilitation of a tailings pond in north Tipperary. The group, comprising representatives from the Department of the Marine and Natural Resources, the Environmental Protection Agency, mining company Mogul and North Tipperary County Council will meet in Nenagh to discuss financing the rehabilitation of the Gortmore Tailings Pond facility, close to the village of Silvermines. James Hayden reports.
The announcement of the meeting, by North Tipperary Fianna Fáil deputy Ms Maire Hoctor, was made during a visit by members of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Marine and Natural Resources to the site yesterday.
The visit, which was organised by local senator Ms Kathleen O'Meara, allowed members to walk the 147-acre facility.
The site is a legacy of mining operations undertaken in the area prior to the closure of the mine in the early 1980s and contains thousands of tonnes of by-products - including cyanide - of the mining industry.
Residents and farmers met the Oireachtas group and expressed serious concerns regarding the continuous dust blow from the Gortmore facility, approximately five kilometres from Silvermines village.
A farmer, Mr Michael Leamy, told the group about the dust blows during spells of dry weather which, he said, had caused havoc for local people whose homes were close to the facility.
"Locals believe their families are suffering as a direct result of dust particles containing deadly levels of toxic metals including lead and cadmium, which envelops both homes and farmsteads during prolonged dry spells," he said.
Last year, the Department of Marine and Natural Resources presented a report into the presence of heavy and toxic metals and suspected lead and zinc poison following centuries of mining in the entire Silvermines area.
The primary recommendations seek to prevent toxic dust blows which have contaminated surrounding areas at various intervals over the past number of years, remove and isolate hazardous wastes to a central location and ensure that mining shafts and danger areas are made safe.
Senator O'Meara had urged the committee to visit the site in order to see for themselves the extent of the environmental problem faced by the local community as a result of the failure to rehabilitate the area.
The local committee campaigning for the clean-up of the site is to make a formal presentation to the Oireachtas committee at which they will ask it to press the Government to take on the rehabilitation plan, rather than waiting for Mogul Ireland to carry it out.