Strong winds blew large clouds of toxic dust from an old mine site onto houses and farms in north Tipperary yesterday.
The dust from the 150-acre tailings pond at Gortmore - which has been found to contain traces of lead, zinc, cyanide and cadmium - was seen billowing across a vast area close to Silvermines village. The recent hot spell, coupled with windy weather, has led to a resumption of dust blows from the pond.
North Tipperary County Council's environment director Karl Cashen said the owners of the tailings pond, Mogul of Ireland, had been contacted, and would put an agreed "monitoring and emergency plan" for the site into action to quell the dust blows. This would involve spraying the site with water today.
He added that the council had chosen consultants to oversee the rehabilitation of the tailings pond. "We are now awaiting contract documents from these consultants, and we hope to get them next week."
Although dust blows from the site have been occurring on a sporadic basis for the past 22 years, Michael Leamy, chairman of the Gortmore Environmental Action Committee, said "this is the worst dust blow from the pond that I have seen in years. The whole community is worried about their health."
He expressed frustration that consultants had not yet been appointed to implement a Government-funded plan to rehabilitate the tailings pond to prevent future dust blows, which first started two years after Mogul of Ireland ceased mining in 1982.
Last August the Department of Natural Resources announced a €10.5 million package to tackle toxic mine dumps in the area. Funding was included to cover the tailings pond with a layer of crushed rock and top soil after the department failed to reach agreement with Mogul on the company's proposal to rehabilitate the site.
North Tipperary Senator Kathleen O'Meara said: "The community has waited long enough for the pond to be covered; it's a quite straightforward job."
In March 2004, a Government- appointed expert group report stated that Silvermines was a safe place to live provided all agencies and the local community took certain precautions.
It said remediation of a number of old mine sites in the area, including the tailings pond, should be undertaken "without delay".