Meath incinerator did not cause fatal disease, HSE finds

A Health Service Executive investigation into cases of a rare and potentially fatal disease in Co Meath has found no evidence they were caused by environmental factors.

The review found the cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) were unrelated and the most likely explanation was a preceding infectious disease.

The syndrome, a nerve disorder, is the most common cause of acute paralysis worldwide, with an incidence of one to two cases per 100,000 people.

Local environmental groups, whose concerns prompted the HSE to commission the report, said the report left too many questions unanswered.

The Louth Meath Health Protection Group and the Drogheda Environmental Group had raised concerns over the presence near Duleek of an incinerator operated by Indaver Ireland, an Irish Cement factory and an abattoir.

The review identified three people with GBS in the village but said this number was in keeping with the expected incidence for the disease.

It said the Environmental Protection Agency and Meath County Council had confirmed processes in the factories complied with best practices and “there was no evidence of any noncompliance with these processes”.

Patrick O’Brien, a spokesman for both environmental groups, expressed disappointment with the findings, while accepting it was very difficult to pinpoint the exact causes of GBS.

He maintained there were six cases in the area but that the HSE had “whittled this number down” to three for unexplained reasons.

‘Alternate diagnoses’

The review says six cases were brought to its attention but three involving “alternate diagnoses” or people who were not resident in Duleek when diagnosed with GBS were excluded from consideration.

Earlier this year, The Irish Times reported that Indaver’s incinerator at Duleek had the highest emissions of any EPA-licensed facility in 2014 with 19 breaches of emission limits.