Opposition comments on the Government's possible use of incineration as a waste management strategy were described by the Minister for State for Agriculture, Mr Ned O'Keeffe, as "unhelpful and irresponsible". They were taking a definitive position based on Irish media reports of a US newspaper article which referred to a leaked draft US Environmental Protection Agency report.
The Labour Party had called on the Government to spell out whether it supported incineration, while the Green Party claimed it would be "criminal negligence" to go ahead with incineration in the wake of stories about the US report. Labour's Environment spokesman, Mr Eamon Gilmore, said the report found that the cancer risk from dioxins was far higher than previously estimated, and this was alarming. Mr John Gormley (Green, Dublin SouthEast), asked: "how many people have to die before the Government wakes up to the reality" that incineration was not viable.
Mr O'Keeffe, speaking on behalf of the Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey, said the report, "possibly amended", was to be published next month. "The Department of Environment will then evaluate it and the Minister will be in a position to respond in relation to issues arising."
Mr Gilmore said people had long been aware of the ill-effects of dioxins but the report found that in the US, up to one in 100 of those who ate large amounts of fatty foods such as meat and dairy products could develop cancer.
"While the levels of dioxins present in the environmental chain in this country are relatively low by international standards, we have a high level of consumption of meat and dairy products, which are the biggest carriers of dioxins," he said. "And of course, Irish children have a high level of consumption of dairy products. So it would be unwise for us not to take urgent note of the EPA's findings."
The report would cause particular alarm to those who lived close to the proposed large-scale municipal incinerators, given the established link between incineration and dioxins. Mr O'Keeffe said, however, that information in the report "should not come as a surprise" to anyone who had kept up with the facts regarding dioxins or waste incineration. He said that because of the potential toxic effects of exposure to dioxins, their emission must, where possible, be strictly controlled and minimised. "The information available to me is that modern thermal treatment technology enables the destruction of most dioxins in waste and remaining emissions are minimal and can be tightly controlled," said Mr O'Keeffe.
He said Mr Dempsey was advised that emissions from proposed new thermal treatment facilities, employing modern technologies and subject to compliance with strict environmental standards, should not have any appreciable environmental impact, or contribute significantly to background levels of dioxins locally or nationally.
