People from the Askeaton area of County Limerick have been reassured by the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) there is little cause for concern that environmental pollution in the region poses a threat to human health. Following a six-year study, the EPA reported that air-quality measurements at the alumina plant at Aughinish, and at two ESB power stations nearby, had complied with EU standards since the mid-1980's at least. And it found there is little or no difference in the quality of health enjoyed by the Askeaton population compared to the populations in counties Clare, Limerick and Tipperary.
For those willing to believe, the final report by the EPA will come as a considerable comfort. For others, it will be seen as a vehicle to minimise public concern over the effects of industrial pollution. People in the latter camp will argue that, in spite of a lack of scientific proof, the fact that Aughinish and the two ESB plants were producing 56 per cent of sulphur dioxide and 23 per cent of nitrogen oxides emissions nationally by 1998, must have had a bearing on the sudden surge in animal deaths and illnesses in the late 1980's and early 1990's. Nevertheless, the failure to find any evidence that environmental pollution was a local source of animal, or human illness, cannot be gainsaid.
The total cost of the six-year investigation came to more than £4million. And the latest report addresses concerns that human, as well as animal, health might have been affected by environmental pollution. Dealing with this issue, the EPA took as its starting point a series of interim reports it produced in 1995, 1997 and 1998 which regarded pollution, toxic substances and tainted grass as unlikely causes of the high rate of animal disease and mortality on a number of farms in the area. Those reports concluded that many of the problems reported were of a type commonly seen on farms elsewhere and were infectious and nutritional in nature.
On the basis of these animal findings, the EPA concluded there was no real threat to human health. Material provided by the Mid Western Health Board and various other studies led to the conclusion that the overall death rate for people in the area is the same as elsewhere.
However, there is a slighter greater incidence of men dying from respiratory diseases and children under 14 years are at greater risk. The EPA accepts that the delay in commissioning the investigation made its task more difficult. That matter has now been addressed by Government. But a lapse of six years between initial inquiry and final report is far too long for a matter of such public importance.