Danger In The Air?

In Blogby Mourre16 Comments

Image via twitter.com/KelWishyWashy

Image via twitter.com/KelWishyWashy

As the enormous fire at the Oxigen recycling plant continues to billow smoke across south Dublin questions are left unanswered.

People need to know how dangerous the smoke is, and whether parents should move young children or elderly family members away from the area’ – former Green Party TD Ciarán Cuffe

‘Like many Dubliners I woke up on Saturday to the acrid smell of smoke. At first we thought there was a fire in the house, but as dawn broke we could see a large dark plume of smoke in West Dublin coming from the Oxigen plant in Ballymount. It soon became clear that one of Ireland’s largest buildings had gone up in smoke. The Recycling facility accepts waste from all over Dublin and beyond. Most of the contents of the  city’s green bins ends up being processed there. Thankfully, no-one appears to have been injured in the immediate blaze, but as the fire smolders on 48 hours after the blaze there are many questions for the Environmental Protection Agency and Oxigen to answer.’

Almost no information has been released to the general public despite demands as the smell of burning plastic has enveloped most of the southern city, miles from Ballymount, all weekend. The Environmental Protection Agency seems to be asleep – these tweets almost their only response to 3,000 tons of burning plastics and other recyclables in Ireland’s capital:

Screen Shot 2014-01-27 at 11.19.36 Screen Shot 2014-01-27 at 11.18.32

Meanwhile at least four units of the Dublin Fire Brigade are still battling the fire (time of writing Monday morning).

More from Cuffe here.

 

 

Comments

  1. From their site. It made me feel much, much better.

    “Dear Customers

    Please note that services remain uninterrupted following our fire at our Ballymount site. Dublin collections will occur as per usual schedule.

    Oxigen Environmental would like to say Thank you to all Members of Dublin Fire Brigade and an Garda Síochána for their amazing support and efforts over the last number of days”

  2. The standard mushroom treatment…keep ‘m in the dark and spray them with slurry.

  3. Why won’t they tell us? They probably haven’t a clue themselves.

  4. I hope they weren’t lying when they said they removed the asbestos out in time and that’s just an obvious one to be worried about!

  5. Theres money to be made in the coverup as in dont worry were ppen for business as usual. same as the fukushima coverup…theyve been dumping 4,000 tons of radioactive water into the pacific daily for the last three yrs but in order to continue building nuclear plants as o’bomba and cameron have announced they will be doing, we wont be told the truth that fukushima is much worse than chernobyl and three mile island. do they recycle plastic at the place in dublin? is plastic goin up in smoke there?

  6. And the workers there? Where’s the safety oversight

  7. Press Release from Tina Mac Veigh People Before Profit Alliance – Local Elections 2014 here:

    Press Release – Residents Kept in the Dark As Fire Rages at Ballymount Recycling Facility

    26th January 2014

    For immediate release:

    Tina MacVeigh says it is a disgrace that residents have been kept in the dark as fires continue to rage at Ballymount Oxigen waste recycling facility

    The fire raging at the Oxigen waste management plant in Ballymount is posing a serious health and safety risk to residents in the nearby residential areas of Walkinstown, Drimnagh, Crumlin, Bluebell, Inchicore and Rialto.

    Commenting on the revelation from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) website that this facility has held a licence to recycle asbestos – 1800 tonnes of it were received in 2012 – Tina MacVeigh, People Before Profit representative for the South West Inner City, Crumlin Kimmage area said: ‘We need to know if there was asbestos stock piles there this weekend. If there was, goodness knows how many hazardous particles are now floating in the air. The trade or use of asbestos has been restricted or banned in many jurisdictions due to its highly carcenogenic nature. This is potentially a very serious public health hazzard and demands more attention’.

    According to various news reports over the weekend, it is known that some of the cannisters that exploded at the stie yesterday morning contained dangerous gases such as argon, the highly explosive oxyacetylene and recycled plastic, all of which are highly toxic. Residents have been advised to close their windows, stay indoors and to even consider staying with relatives outside the area.

    Ms. MacVeigh went on to say: ‘Despite the seriousness of this, there has been very little clarity coming either from the company itself, the EPA, the HSE or the Department of the Environment as to what exactly was stored at the plant and what toxins are now hanging in the air as a result of the fire. Who is responsible for regulating the storage of these dangerous materials at these sites? Who is responsible for informing residents of the current dangers on foot of the fire? Even the fire fighters tackling the blaze cannot get clarity in relation to whether other cannisters on the site could cause further explosions’.

    People Before Profit has campaigned for years in relation to the suitability of waste sites, such as Oxigen and Thorntons in Ballyfermot, in such close proximity to densely populated residential areas. In fact, West Dublin is home to many waste management sites, while none are based in the more leafy suburbs of south Dublin.

    Ms. MacVeigh went on to say: ‘The residents of Walkinstown, Greenhills, Crumlin, Drimnagh, Inchicore and Rialto deserve better. It is unacceptable that residents are exposed to such dangers. Regardless of whether a fire has broken out, it would appear that the storage of such toxic materials close to residential areas poses serious health and safety threats. We will continue to campaign until the suitability of such businesses to operate in our residential areas is seriously investigated. It is of grave concern that waste handling and processing is now in the hands of profit makers, and not under the regulated control of public services. My colleague Councillor Brid Smith has called for an immediate review of licencing regulations of waste management sites and I wholly support this call’.

    For more information please call Tina MacVeigh on 086 871 5293

    Tina MacVeigh is the People Before Profit Representative for the South West Inner City Crumlin Kimmage area and the Candidate for the area in the Local Elections May 2014.

  8. Press Release from Tina Mac Veigh People Before Profit Alliance – Local Elections 2014 here:

    Press Release – Residents Kept in the Dark As Fire Rages at Ballymount Recycling Facility

    26th January 2014

    For immediate release:

    Tina MacVeigh says it is a disgrace that residents have been kept in the dark as fires continue to rage at Ballymount Oxigen waste recycling facility

    The fire raging at the Oxigen waste management plant in Ballymount is posing a serious health and safety risk to residents in the nearby residential areas of Walkinstown, Drimnagh, Crumlin, Bluebell, Inchicore and Rialto.

    Commenting on the revelation from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) website that this facility has held a licence to recycle asbestos – 1800 tonnes of it were received in 2012 – Tina MacVeigh, People Before Profit representative for the South West Inner City, Crumlin Kimmage area said: ‘We need to know if there was asbestos stock piles there this weekend. If there was, goodness knows how many hazardous particles are now floating in the air. The trade or use of asbestos has been restricted or banned in many jurisdictions due to its highly carcenogenic nature. This is potentially a very serious public health hazzard and demands more attention’.

    According to various news reports over the weekend, it is known that some of the cannisters that exploded at the stie yesterday morning contained dangerous gases such as argon, the highly explosive oxyacetylene and recycled plastic, all of which are highly toxic. Residents have been advised to close their windows, stay indoors and to even consider staying with relatives outside the area.

    Ms. MacVeigh went on to say: ‘Despite the seriousness of this, there has been very little clarity coming either from the company itself, the EPA, the HSE or the Department of the Environment as to what exactly was stored at the plant and what toxins are now hanging in the air as a result of the fire. Who is responsible for regulating the storage of these dangerous materials at these sites? Who is responsible for informing residents of the current dangers on foot of the fire? Even the fire fighters tackling the blaze cannot get clarity in relation to whether other cannisters on the site could cause further explosions’.

    People Before Profit has campaigned for years in relation to the suitability of waste sites, such as Oxigen and Thorntons in Ballyfermot, in such close proximity to densely populated residential areas. In fact, West Dublin is home to many waste management sites, while none are based in the more leafy suburbs of south Dublin.

    Ms. MacVeigh went on to say: ‘The residents of Walkinstown, Greenhills, Crumlin, Drimnagh, Inchicore and Rialto deserve better. It is unacceptable that residents are exposed to such dangers. Regardless of whether a fire has broken out, it would appear that the storage of such toxic materials close to residential areas poses serious health and safety threats. We will continue to campaign until the suitability of such businesses to operate in our residential areas is seriously investigated. It is of grave concern that waste handling and processing is now in the hands of profit makers, and not under the regulated control of public services. My colleague Councillor Brid Smith has called for an immediate review of licencing regulations of waste management sites and I wholly support this call’.

    For more information please call Tina MacVeigh on 086 871 5293

    Tina MacVeigh is the People Before Profit Representative for the South West Inner City Crumlin Kimmage area and the Candidate for the area in the Local Elections May 2014.

Leave a Comment