I am grateful for the opportunity to raise this important matter and I thank the Minister for Enterprise and Employment for taking it. Senator Kiely presented his case in a very placid way, but this matter has caused me anger since 1990 and I want the Minister to convey that to the Minister for the Environment. The people are angry because a landfill disposal site at Ballyguyroe, north Kildorrery, was opened on 2 April 1990 following a decision by the members of the northern committee of the county council to close the site at Rahan as a result of serious complaints by the general public and because of the nuisance being created by burning and general bad management of the site.
Ballyguyroe is an under land site and was opened on 2 April 1990. Rahan was closed on 30 March, 1990. Having been requested to do so, I put a motion before the council. The management of the northern division of the county council refused to provide an environmental impact statement, as provided for in the European Community's environmental assessment regulations of 1989. Before commencing the development they refused on the grounds that an EIS was not required as the intake would be 12,000 to 13,000 tonnes annually and well below the requirement of 25,000 tonnes laid down by the European Union's environmental impact assessment regulations. It was stated in the record of the minutes of the meeting that the disposal at the site will be confined to the committee's own direct operations and those of a small number of licensed private operators.
Within two years a report issued by the county council's northern division showed that 23,272 tonnes of waste was being disposed of as follows: Cork County Council 7,124 tonnes; Mallow UDC 2,808 tonnes; Fermoy UDC 2,340 tonnes; Contractors 11,000 tonnes; Total 23,272 tonnes.
As it was estimated by the planners in north Cork that the site or sites must be capable of receiving 800,000 tonnes of waste over 25 years there should have been an environmental impact assessment.
It was recently reported by the manager that six private contractors were now using the site. In addition, the fact that some contractors employ subcontractors means that there is no way of knowing the amount or type of waste being disposed of at Ballyguyroe. This is the case despite the existence of European Union regulations governing such developments which the management claim it was not necessary to invoke.
It should have been obvious to all concerned that the development was likely to have a significant impact on the environment due to the fact that it was on an elevated site with high rainfall levels. In addition, it is situated on a yellow sandstone aquifer which is classified by the Geological Survey of Ireland — GSI — as a regionally important aquifer which can give yields sufficient for small towns and a significant public supply to wells of more than 4,000 gallons per hour.
A recent survey shows that the presence of ecoli in the water supply renders it unsafe for human consumption and is in breach of EU regulations. The seriousness of the landfill leakage, which appears to be the case in Ballyguyroe, contaminating the water supply cannot be overstated.
On 19 December 1994 it was brought to the notice of the county council that hazardous waste was found which included syringes, pipettes, protective gloves and test tubes containing blood. The subsequent report of the public analysts at St. Finbarr's Hospital in Cork indicated that the forensic laboratory in the Department of Justice stated that the blood found on the site was bovine blood.
A letter from Dr. Kevin O'Farrell, Head of the Dairy Husbandry Department at Moorepark, Fermoy, to Mr. Michael O'Brien, the engineer in charge who introduced the site in the first place, admitted that non-domestic waste was inadvertently placed in a domestic waste container.
Hospital waste has been deposited on the site since 1990. There is nothing to sustain the recommendation that the impermeability of the site is sufficient to protect the soil and groundwater. All the experts tell us that landfill, even where liners are provided, is not safe. The question is addressed in the GSI recommendations governing the location of landfill sites anywhere near groundwater sources.
The question of the safe operation of what can be described as a co-disposal waste landfill can be gauged from the fact that the domestic water supply in the Ballyguyroe area is polluted. Gas emissions accompanied by foul odours are travelling a considerable distance from the landfill and pose a health risk to the community. Major problems are also being experienced from fly infestation in recent years.
I am asking the Minister to expedite a decision on the EIS which has been submitted by the council. A new extension comprising a 50 acre site is required because what I have outlined is happening on a 30 acre site for which there is no EIS. What is now proposed, and what has been before the Department since last April, is an EIS for an extension of that site.
The manager has confirmed that a new cell is being excavated on the existing site but this is not good enough particularly at a time when there is such emphasis on protecting the environment in the public interest.
I am leaving photographs of the site with the Minister to convey to the Minister for the Environment and his Department. These photographs are appalling exhibitions of what is happening.
