THE Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is to take legal action against the giant manufacturer Procter & Gamble for serious pollution in Nenagh, Co Tipperary, last month, which contaminated a quarter of the town's domestic water supply.
The EPA report published yesterday said it had evidence that Procter & Gamble was a major contributor to the contamination. The EPA also named the Tubex factory, which manufactures small plastic packages for Procter & Gamble, and SFADCo which has responsibility for drainage pipes near the polluted Gortlandroe Well.
The 21 year old well is beside the Procter & Gamble factory on the Gortlandroe Industrial Estate and it is close to the Tubex factory and the SFADCo foul sewer and the UDC town sewer.
The agency suggested that Nenagh Urban District Council consider taking separate legal action against Tubex and SFADCo. Ironically, it also noted that the UDC may have contributed to the contamination through the town sewer, which is linked to the SFADCo system.
An EPA spokesman said the agency would not hesitate to prosecute the UDC if further evidence showed it had played a significant part in the pollution incident which has left hundreds of homes without tap water.
Analysis of the contaminated water indicated that substances known as siloxanes used by Procter & Gamble were present in the contaminated water, as were vitamin E acetates, nonyl phenols and galaxolide, as was 1,1,1 trichlorethane, a chemical used by Tubex, and E coli bacteria, which was indicative of sewage pollution.
The Gortlandroe well should not be used as a water source again, the report added.
When pollution was reported on August 3rd Nenagh UDC began an investigation, but the decision to stop pumping water from the well was not taken until August 16th.
Even then, because the town was hosting a festival, the local authority started pumping from the well again, due to the added demand for water, but people were warned by loud hailer, local radio and newspapers not to drink the water.
Arrangements were put in place instead to supply drinking water from tankers to the affected townspeople.
The UDC investigation found the well was contaminated, having a distinctive perfumed odour and a milky discoloration".
This was the second pollution incident involving Procter & Gamble. On April 4th, 500kg of shower gel leaked from a ruptured Procter & Gamble container and contaminated the well.
The latest and far more serious incident was caused in part by a leaking flange on the Procter & Gamble site.
Although in the aftermath of the contamination, Procter & Gamble said there was no evidence to show that it was responsible, the presence of the siloxanes linked the company to the problem in the well, either via the leaking flange or the SFADCo foul drain, the report went on.
Despite the toxicity of some of the substances found, the dilution effect was so great that they did not constitute a health danger, the report said.
The EPA was processing Procter & Gamble's application for an integrated pollution control licence when the latest incident occurred.
Yesterday the agency said that it would not license the factory until it had been satisfied that all relevant issues had been adequately addressed by the company. Because of its size, Procter & Gamble comes directly under EPA control, while Tubex and SFADCo receive operating permits from the local authority.
The EPA has the power to close Procter & Gamble for non compliance, but the company will continue to operate while the licence is being processed.
The agency has recommended that the well be closed; that a chemical tracing study be carried out by Nenagh UDC on all sewers, and on the structural integrity of its own sewer, associated with the Gortlandroe site; that SFADCo's storm and foul drains be licensed under the Local Government (Water Pollution Acts, 1977 and 1990) by the local authority, as well as effluent discharges from the Tubex factory; that monitoring of the polluted well be continued by the local authority, to determine the possible pollution paths; and that Procter & Gamble arrange for a detailed hydrogeological study of their site to prevent future incidents.
Throughout the State, the report said, local authorities should carry out a risk assessment of all sources of public water supplies and that particular attention should be paid to those in close proximity to industrial estates. Unchlorinated water samples from all such sources should be tested regularly for bacteriological quality, it suggested.