Vol. 395 No. 6
52 Mr. T. O'Sullivan asked the Minister for the Marine if he will make a statement on the dumping of fermentation waste at sea by Irish chemical companies; the number of tonnes dumped annually; and the measures taken to monitor environmental damage.
Only one Irish chemical company is licensed by my Department to dump fermentation waste at sea. Dumping is carried out in accordance with conditions set out in the licence, which are designed to minimise any adverse effects the dumping might have. Since 1986, when 783,000 tonnes were dumped, the amounts have been decreasing steadily. The volume in 1989 was almost 445,000 tonnes. The company recently announced that it will cease its dumping at sea operations later this year. The waste will be given further chemical treatment and disposed of on land.
Extensive surveys of the dump site were undertaken in 1982 and 1988. These indicated that there were no adverse environmental impacts from dumping in the vicinity of the dump-site. Under the terms of the licence, the company is also obliged to send my Department on a quarterly basis the results of chemical analyses of the waste being dumped.
The 1986 survey was a study of water columns only.
