GALWAY for a SAFE ENVIRONMENT
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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 16th, 2000
Galway for a Safe Environment (GSE) Residents for a Responsible Waste Management Policy Wednesday, February 16th, 2000 GSE Reply to MC O'Sullivan - All Incinerator Ash is Hazardous to some Extent GSE Cite Netherlands Building Materials Decree, 1995 Specifies Incinerator Bottom Ash Must not Come in Contact with Water Will 50,000 Tonnes of Ash Landfilled in East Galway be Protected fromWater ? "There is no such thing as non-hazardous ash from an incinerator", said Galway for a Safe Environment (GSE) spokesman, Dr. Conchúr Ó Brádaigh, "as all ash will contain varying amounts of toxic substances, such as dioxins, furans and heavy metals such as mercury, cadmium, lead etc. GSE was replying to waste consultants, MC O'Sullivan, who last week accused the group of "misinformation", over the quantity of hazardous ash which will result from the proposed incinerator for Galway City. "We are glad to see that Mr. PJ Rudden, of MC O'Sullivan has admitted that 30% of the rubbish incinerated will have to be landfilled in the form of ash. Using the figures in the Connacht Draft Waste Management Plan of 186,000 tonnes per year to be burnt, this would yield a total ash figure of over 62,000 tonnes every year". "MC O'Sullivan have admitted that 5% of the ash (over 9,000 tonnes per annum) is hazardous and will have to be placed in a hazardous landfill, which the EPA has decided to build, at a yet unspecified location in Ireland." "We are assuming that Mr. Rudden is referring here to the fly-ash, which is well-known to be heavily contaminated with toxins such as dioxin, furans, and various heavy metals, e.g. lead, cadmium and mercury." "The remained of the ash, however, known as the bottom ash, is also treated in some countries as a hazardous, or controllable risk, and it is this 50,000 tonnes that GSE are particularly concerned about, as it is planned to landfill it in East Galway" Dr. Ó Brádaigh referred in particular to the Dutch Building Materials Decree of 1985, which allows the use of certain materials, such as Municipal Solid Waste Incinerator (MSWI) bottom ash, in the construction of roads, but only subject to measures which virtually rule out any contact of that building material with rainwater or groundwater when that material is used. (italics indicate quote from decree, see pages attached) Specifically, the Dutch Building Materials Decree says that: For use on or in the soil the decree lays down that the distance between the building materials used and the mean highest groundwater level, after the soil has settled, may not be less than 0.5 metres ..an isolation cap of such kind must be installed which virtually prevents any contact between the building material and rainwater. In concrete terms this means that the cap must be installed on top of the building materials. These building materials may only be used in a work in minimum unbroken quantities of 10,000 tonnes….A minimum of 10,000 tonnes always applies to the special category of MSWI bottom ash. This restriction to relatively large quantities is also desirable from the point of view of controllability "It is clear from the Dutch regulations that the bottom ash from incinerators is not allowed to come in contact with any ground or rain water", said Dr. Ó Brádaigh. "This is clearly because of the concerns that hazards exist from leaching of toxic substances from the bottom ash into the ground water" A recent EU study, entitled EU Dioxin Exposure and Health Data, had linked exposure to dioxins with a range of health risks, including liver damage, suppression of the immune system, formation of cancers and abnormalities in foetal development. The EU report also said that the exposure of first-born infants, up to 2 months of age, could be between 27 and 144 times greater than the WHO recommendation, and that leaching of dioxin from ash in landfills may well be one of the most important sources of dioxin in the future. "It is time that consultants like MC O'Sullivan came clean with Galway Councillors and with the Galway public on the fact that all ash from the proposed incinerator, whether fly ash or bottom ash, is hazardous to some extent.", said Dr. Ó Brádaigh. "It is also time for these consultants to explain to the people of East Galway in particular just how they are going to manage the 50,000 tonnes of bottom ash they are proposing to landfill there, and how they are going to isolate it from all water, groundwater and rainwater". Ends Confirmation: Conchúr Ó Brádaigh, 087-2830452 Áine Suttle, 091-581047 <!-- HTML Markup endspan --> </td> </tr> </table> <a name=bottom></a> </body> </html>