Farmers in Co Tipperary yesterday expressed health concerns over toxic dust blowing onto their lands from a disused mining waste dump.
Monitoring results from North Tipperary County Council of the 150-acre tailings pond owned by Mogul of Ireland, situated just miles from the village of Silvermines, indicated that the dust blowing onto farmland over recent months had exceeded acceptable levels.
The dust from the tailings site in the townland of Gortmore contains traces of lead, and farmers have expressed concern about the risks to themselves, their families and their livestock.
The problem has been ongoing for two decades following the end of mining in the area in 1982.
Since then, several farm animals have died, and there have been growing concerns about human health.
Mr Michael Leamy, chairman of the Gortmore Environmental Action Group, said the dust had got worse in recent months because of long dry spells.
"This problem has been going on for 20 years, and the political will does not seem to be there to solve it.
"Our main fear is human health, but we are also concerned that up to 20 cattle that we know of have died from lead poisoning in the Silvermines area over the years. A huge number of animals were also poisoned with lead but did not die."
Farmer Mr John Hogan, whose family had to be evacuated from their house following a major dust blow in 1985, said a grass covering put down on the pond by Mogul several years ago to prevent the dust blows was now beginning to erode at certain parts of the pond.
Local Labour senator Ms Kathleen O'Meara said it was now three weeks past the June 28th deadline set by the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources for Mogul to present a final remediation plan for the tailings pond.
She said no real action to address the problem had been taken in the four years since the Environment Protection Agency described the site as "a perpetual risk to human health and the environment".
Two years ago, an inter-agency group set up by the Government published 39 recommendations that would have to be implemented to reduce exposure of the community to lead and other toxic by-products of mining.
Last March, the Government-appointed Expert Group for Silvermines, under the chairmanship of Prof Ian Thornton, published a report which found that Silvermines was a safe place to live provided all agencies and the local community took certain precautions.
It said remediation works on some mining sites, including the tailings pond, should be undertaken "without delay".