IRELAND IS facing a major environmental problem from the million litres of dioxin-contaminated pig and cattle slurry from farms hit by the feed scare.
This dioxin-contaminated slurry cannot be legally spread on land.
It is still being held on farms where dioxin-laden waste food was fed to the thousands of animals caught up in the event.
Officials from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), officials from the Department of Agriculture and the farmers involved are seeking a solution to the problem of how to dispose of the material.
Under existing EU and national environmental laws, no matter containing dioxins can be spread on land used for the production of food.
A Department of Agriculture spokeswoman said last night its officials had been sampling slurry from the farms involved, and the results had raised the concern of the EPA.
“Because of that the department is in discussions with the EPA, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland and the European Commission to arrange suitable disposal of the material.”
An EPA spokeswoman said it was assisting the Department of Agriculture in how to dispose of the slurry.
“The department has taken samples from the farms and there are ongoing discussions.
“This is a matter for the Department of Agriculture because we are dealing with an animal by-product.
“At the moment there are no conclusions and the discussions are ongoing.”
Pig slurry, according to experts, is not suitable for spreading on forestry .
Spreading it on crops grown for energy, such as rapeseed, cannot be allowed either because rapeseed has to be grown in rotation with other cereal crops which could become contaminated.
Ireland has no incinerator at which the material could be dried and safely burned, and the cost of exporting the slurry for disposal would cost many millions.
The authorities here have been in contact with the EU and other international agencies to help resolve the problem.
One solution is the possible creation of large plastic-lined lagoons where slurry would be stored and allowed dry to a stage where the remaining sludge could be taken for incineration.
The problem could have been even larger had Minister for the Environment John Gormley not allowed an extension of a month for slurry-spreading last autumn.
Despite that, it was estimated that up to one million litres of slurry was generated on the farms involved where 130,000 pigs and several thousand cattle were held in quarantine awaiting slaughter from December 6th into the middle of January, when the final cull was completed.