Vol. 543 No. 2
74 Mr. M. Higgins asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the plans he has for a comprehensive national study of existing and closed landfill waste sites, having regard to the findings of a study conducted by Imperial College, London, which found that there were small but measurable increases in birth defects among children born within a two kilometre radius of such sites; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26670/01]
I have asked the Health Research Board – HRB – to provide a study, utilising appropriate research expertise in health and environmental sciences, which will contain an objective, independent and expert analysis of all available information regarding the likely effects of landfill and thermal treatment, especially incineration, activities on public health and the environment. The HRB study will encompass, but will not be limited to, an evaluation of recorded impacts on public health and the environment from emissions from old landfills and thermal treatment technologies, that is, facilities and technologies in operation prior to the imposition of modern operational requirements and emission standards, and an assessment of the risk posed by emissions from modern landfills and thermal treatment technologies, that is, operating to current EU standards, to public health and the environment. Accordingly, I anticipate that this work will include an assessment of the findings of the Imperial College study published in August 2001.
I expect a study team to be appointed shortly by the HRB and the study to conclude by end February 2002. A report will be published shortly thereafter. The need for any further dedicated research into the possible impact of landfill sites on public health can be evaluated in light of that report. While the UK study found small excess risks of congenital anomalies in populations living near landfill sites, it identified no causal mechanisms to explain these findings and noted that alternative explanations include statistical factors or other variables which cannot be readily taken into account in ecological studies. It recommended further studies to help differentiate between the various possibilities.
The HRB study was announced some time ago and I am surprised that the research team has not yet been appointed. Will specific field studies be carried out on individual landfill sites as part of the study? Is it intended, in particular, to carry out studies on the approximately 500 sites identified by the EPA where toxic materials have been dumped?
I will outline the scope of the study.
I would prefer the Minister of State to answer the question.
If I outline the scope of the study, the Deputy can ascertain whether the question has been answered. The study covers an evaluation of recorded impacts on public health and the environment from emissions from old landfills and thermal technologies; an assessment of the risks posed by emissions from modern landfills and thermal treatment technologies; the impact of current emission standards and the risk involved for public health and the environment; a comparison of risks posed to public health and the environment by emissions from modern thermal treatment plants with those posed by similar emissions from other sectors; a critical analysis of claims made by interests promoting and opposed to thermal treatment of waste as to the impact of emissions on public health and environment; and an evaluation of the significance of bio-markers as indicators of exposure to emissions and their significance as indicators of potential health problems.
It is up to those carrying out the study to determine what specific areas will be examined. It will be a broad-based study and will cover every aspect of this issue. It will be of great value for future estimates in the arguments for and against incineration in particular.
The Minister's outline of the scope of the study confirms what I have felt for some time, that the HRB study is intended to provide a scientific justification for the decision that has already been made by the Minister for the Environment and Local Government to proceed with the building of incinerators as a solution to our waste problem. However, the question I asked relates to approximately 500 old landfills, some of which have been sealed and not used for some time, where it is known that toxic wastes have been dumped. The question has not been addressed.
Will the Minister of State direct the HRB and its research team to carry out a study of those sites using the methodology of the Imperial College study to establish whether there are grounds for concern in Ireland? Birth defects or other health worries associated with old landfills may be a cause for concern to people living close to these dumps. Will the Minister of State direct the HRB to examine such dumps to ascertain what materials they contain and what dangers they may pose to people from a health and environmental point of view?
I assume the approximately 500 sites to which the Deputy refers were the subject of an EPA desktop study which concluded that approximately 490 sites might have been used for the disposal of hazardous and non-hazardous waste. The national hazardous waste management plan recommends the early establishment by local authorities of comprehensive registers of all sites known or suspected to have been used for the disposal of waste in the past and the prioritisation of each such site as a basis for undertaking more detailed risk assessment procedures. Subsequent investigations and necessary remediation strategies will require site-specific information and the development of detailed technical guidance. That addresses whatever dangers the Deputy feels might still remain.
No, it does not.
The remedial measures will be taken when the knowledge is obtained. Notwithstanding that the Imperial College study was the most extensive study into landfill sites in the world, its findings are by no means clear-cut. A UK Government expert advisory committee noted that the findings for birth outcomes were not consistent and that the study provided no evidence that rates of anomalies increased in the presence of landfill sites. It considered that this made it difficult to draw conclusions about the possible health effects of landfill sites on the basis of this study.
