Asbestos found at Boyne restoration

Drogheda Port Company was in consultation with its advisers yesterday following the discovery of asbestos in a bank which was being restored in the Boyne estuary.

The restoration of mud flats on the southern side of the Boyne at Drogheda Port was being undertaken in compliance with a court order following a lengthy battle between the environmental group Coastwatch and Drogheda Port Company.

The company, which had originally sought to carry out development works at the port, had deposited infill material on mud flats, including an area known as Stewart's Bank. The company was not the only body or individual to deposit material there.

Stewart's Bank is, however, part of an internationally-recognised Special Protected Area for birds designated by the EU. When clearing the site in accordance with the court directive, the port company discovered the asbestos.

Restoration elsewhere is complete, but at part of Stewart's Bank work has stopped.

Standard practice as advised by Meath County Council - which is responsible for the southern bank of the Boyne at Drogheda - is that asbestos found underground should be marked and sealed, but not necessarily excavated.

Coastwatch, however, is less than happy with the pause in restoration of Stewart's Bank, and yesterday a meeting was held between the company, an adviser to Coastwatch, Mr Frank O'Reilly, and an international expert on wetlands, Dr Geoff Proffitt, a former director of the Welsh Wetlands Trust.

The meeting discussed whether a different area of wetlands could be restored in place of Stewart's Bank, and whether this would be acceptable to Coastwatch. It would also have to be acceptable to the court.

Neither Mr O'Reilly nor Dr Proffitt could be contacted yesterday.

A spokesman for the port company, Drogheda harbour master Capt Martin Donnelly, confirmed that asbestos had been discovered. He insisted that about one-third of a hectare had been re- mediated before the discovery, but said "asbestos would be an inhibitor in going back in".

Capt Donnelly criticised Coastwatch for "attempting to get some leverage by contacting the media", and said no further comment would be available until all matters had been decided by the courts.

However, the Coastwatch spokeswoman, Ms Karin Dubsky, told The Irish Times that the work which halted at Stewart's Bank, was over an area which she estimated at about one hectare. She agreed the area already remediated was about one-third of an acre. Coastwatch's first choice would be to continue to remediate the entire area. "We still believe, as do the experts, that asbestos waste is medium to high-risk material and that it should be removed."

However, she added that Coastwatch was prepared to listen to the recommendation of Dr Proffitt, who had previously advised on the wetlands in the Boyne estuary.