Seanad debates
Wednesday, 9 April 2003
Adjournment Matter. - Mining Leases.
10:30 am
Kathleen O'Meara (Labour)
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I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House to respond to this important matter, namely, the urgent need for the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources to expedite clause K of the State mining lease which would require the lessee, Mogul Ireland, to remediate a number of mining related sites at Silvermines outside Nenagh in County Tipperary.
There have been mining operations in the area in question since Famine times. The earliest mining took place in the pre-Christian era and the scars are a legacy in the area. Unfortunately, pollution is one of the main legacies of this activity and toxic pollution in particular. In 1982, Mogul Ireland completed mining in the Silvermines area and, in so doing, walked away from an area consisting of 147 acres of tailings, the residue from the mining of ore.
In less than two years, the 147 acres of tailings had completely dried out because it consisted of residues which had once been of a liquid form. This caused clouds of black dust to blow from the tailings on to the N7. They were quite visible in 1982 and 1983. It took the local community, who were so badly affected by the matter, almost two years to get Mogul Ireland to rehabilitate the site to the extent of covering it with soil and compost and then growing grass on it. Until recently, that has been a fairly successful enterprise in that it stopped the dust blow and the grass has regenerated itself on an annual basis.
In recent years, a considerable amount of erosion has taken place around the tailings area and the site generally. In 1999, the EPA was alerted by members of the community and me when animals were seen straying around the surface of the tailings pond. The EPA became involved immediately and expedited a report in a short period. This referred to the tailings area as a perpetual risk to human health and the environment. In conjunction with North Tipperary County Council, it instituted a programme of action to ensure no animals would in future stray on to the tailings, that the site was secured and that the whole issue of the remediation of the tailings was again raised.
In 2000, a number of animal deaths took place on land owned by farmers adjacent to and around the tailings pond. This activated an inter-agency group, including the Departments of Agriculture and Food and Marine and Natural Resources, Teagasc, North Tipperary County Council, the Environmental Protection Agency and the local community, which produced a very valuable report on the future of the tailings pond and identifying four other toxic sites in the area, some of which were quite old. One of the sites identified, which is important in terms of the precedent established, is across the road from the local primary school in Silvermines village. It was discovered that a field contained very high levels of toxic waste material, going back a considerable period. The Department of Education and Science moved immediately to cover over the field because it was being used as a play area by children from the primary school.
The inter-agency group made 39 recommendations, the majority of which related to the management of water, dust, farming, drainage and other related issues in the area. The most significant recommendation made by the inter-agency group was that clause K of the State mining lease should be used to require Mogul Ireland to rehabilitate not just the tailings pond but other sites. As a result of clause K of the mining lease, considerable legal advice was taken by the inter-agency group to establish the fact that the State could require Mogul Ireland to live up to its responsibility and rehabilitate the tailings pond.
The inter-agency group also identified the need for independent experts to draw up an expert plan for the remediation of the tailings pond and other areas, particularly in view of the fact that these sites contain toxic material, including lead, cadmium, arsenic, mercury and other substances. One of the sites leaks leachate into local streams. Another site is highly toxic, containing residues from mining, with which no human or animals should be in contact. Clearly expert advice was required.
SRK Consultants from Britain recommended a whole list of remediation works for Mogul Ireland to undertake. That report was published a year ago today. A commitment was given to the local community that there would be no delay in expediting clause K; that as soon as the necessary legal framework was drawn up, a legal order would be served on Mogul Ireland requiring it to carry out the work. A year later, it appears we are no closer to seeing clause K of the mining lease being expedited. In other words, we are no nearer to seeing the tailings pond rehabilitated or the other sites cleaned up.
In the meantime, the recent dry weather has created a situation whereby dust is blowing from the tailings and lead, cadmium and mercury contained in the dusk is landing on fields and getting into people's houses. People who live locally say they can smell the substance. I have experienced this myself. There are major concerns in regard to human health and animal health. I spoke to a local farmer today who told me that one of his animals became ill a few days ago. He had the animal tested, the results came back today and the animal is suffering from lead poisoning as a result of dust from the tailings pond. Amazingly, the animal is recovering.
I say to the Minister that it is now necessary to expedite clause K. I want to know why there is a delay, when this will happen and what the Department is doing to ensure that the resources necessary to make this happen are being made available. This matter will not go away. I intend, on behalf of the community, to continue to pursue it and to ensure the State and Mogul Ireland's obligations and responsibilities to the Silvermines area are lived up to. These people have been living with this problem for more than 20 years. I hope I will get a positive response and that the Minister of State will be able to tell me that things are happening in this regard.
John Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Senator O'Meara for raising this important issue. Her colleague, Deputy Hoctor, has consistently criticised the Department for its slowness in dealing with this issue.
Silvermines has a long history of mining, spanning more than a 1,000 years. Most of this activity took place under private leases or was undertaken by the mineral owners themselves. Mogul Ireland mined zinc and lead at Silvermines. These minerals were both privately and State-owned. The State-owned minerals were worked under a State mining lease which was valid for 33 years from 1965 to December 1998. However, production at the mine ceased in 1982.
Its history of mining has left the Silvermines area with the typical residue of such activity, including old spoil dumps, mineshafts and derelict buildings. The most significant of these is Mogul's tailings management facility, TMF, at Gortmore, west of Silvermines village. This facility is a purpose-built ring dam designed to be a disposal site for the company's mining waste. Minerals were extracted from the mined ore by grinding the rock into fine particles at a processing plant and using chemical agents to release the metals. Most of the resulting residue, called tailings, was disposed of as slurry in the Gortmore TMF.
In the 1980s, local residents reported contaminated dust blows coming from the surface of the Gortmore TMF as the tailings dried out. Mogul Ireland, as owners of the TMF, implemented a plan to develop grass on the tailings to prevent future dust blows. Despite spending as much as €630,000 on remedial works since 1982, the company was not able to create a permanent self-sustaining grass cover on the facility.
Public concern about the health hazard posed by the TMF peaked again in 1998, leading to an investigation by the Environmental Protection Agency into the level of danger posed by the facility. The report published in January 1999 stated that the TMF represents a perpetual risk to human health and the environment. Shortly after, three cattle died from lead poisoning on a farm adjacent to the TMF.
These events led to the establishment in June 1999 of an inter-agency group chaired by the Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development under the Askeaton protocol. The group included representatives of the then Department of Marine and Natural Resources and was tasked with investigating the presence and influence of lead in the Silvermines area. The group's report in June 2000 made 39 recommendations for the remediation and long-term management of former mine sites in the area.
An implementation group under the chairmanship of the EPA was established that year to monitor the implementation of the inter-agency group's recommendations. To date, 36 of the 39 recommendations have been fully implemented. The three remaining recommendations relate to the implementation and management of rehabilitation plans for the former mining sites in the Silvermines area. In compliance with one of the inter-agency group's recommendations, the then Department of the Marine and Natural Resources commissioned an integrated study of the remediation and management needs of the entire area. In March 2001 the Department appointed SRK Consulting to undertake the €420,000 study. SRK presented its final report in May 2002.
Under clause K of Mogul Ireland's state mining lease, the company has a contractual liability to rectify the lands affected by its working of State minerals. The Department has to specify what remedial works it requires Mogul to undertake. As part of its study, SRK was asked to examine what works would fall under Mogul's clause K responsibilities and integrate these into the overall recommended remediation programme. The Department's legal advice states it can make only one demand on Mogul to carry out specified remediation works. Therefore, the list of works must be comprehensive. The Department has been consulting with the Chief State Solicitor's office and using the SRK report to draft a notice to Mogul of the remedial works the company is being required to carry out under the terms of clause K. I am pleased to inform the Senator that this document has now been finalised and will be served on Mogul and its directors this week by the Chief State Solicitor's office.
Kathleen O'Meara (Labour)
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I very much welcome the Minister of State's remarks. My understanding is that legislation will not be required to implement the SRK report and expedite clause K. Will the Minister of State clarify the matter for me, please?
John Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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While I understand legislation will not be required, I will confirm this for the Senator later.
Kathleen O'Meara (Labour)
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I thank the Minister of State.
The Seanad adjourned at 8 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Thursday, 10 April 2003.