Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 26 March 2014
138. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he has received a report on health and safety related to waste collection facilities in the south Dublin area since the recent fire at the Oxigen plant. [14264/14]
View answerOn 25 January, the Dublin Fire Service responded to an emergency call reporting a large fire at the Oxigen Environmental Waste facility in an industrial estate at Ballymount, Dublin. In co-ordination with An Garda Síochána, the Dublin Fire Service managed the incident and brought the fire under control four days later. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was also on site since early on 25 January.
Once the fire was brought under control, the EPA took steps to commence a full investigation in the normal way. I also wrote to the Environmental Protection Agency requesting that, in addition to identifying possible causes of the fire and an analysis of the type of wastes affected, the report should include the following: an assessment of the type and quantities of pollutants released to the atmosphere by the fire, including from any hazardous material present; consideration of the levels of, and impacts from, air pollution monitored in the vicinity of the fire by EPA staff; any other data available, such as data recorded by the relevant local authorities, the HSE sector or the EPA’s national ambient air quality monitoring network; and using the data above, an indicative assessment, where practicable, of the likely exposure to the population in the vicinity of the plume.
I am aware that the EPA is currently finalising a report and I expect to receive it within the next two weeks.
