Kirk calls for EPA intervention following revelations about toxic dumping into Dundalk water supply
Published on: 19 January 2015
Louth Fianna Fáil TD Seamus Kirk has said he is extremely alarmed by revelations in the ‘Sunday Independent’ that toxic substances are being dumped into the Fane River which feeds the main reservoir for Dundalk.
Deputy Kirk has called for the immediate intervention of the Environmental Protection Agency which he says should test the water for toxins harmful to the public.
Deputy Kirk commented: “These reports are extremely worrying. The fact that toxic substances are making their way into River Fane as well as Lough Muckno and Lough Ross is a cause of huge concern. What’s more astonishing is that this is supposedly being done by fuel smugglers involved in the provisional republican movement operating in South Armagh. Around 40,000 people living in Dundalk need to know if their water supply has been poisoned.
“I will be writing to the EPA and raising this matter in the Dáil with the Minister for Environment Alan Kelly. Fuel smuggling remains a major problem in the border region and the Government and the Gardaí need to do more to shutdown illegal operations. The fact that criminal elements are being left to producer fuel that can damage vehicles and now threaten the water supply to thousands of people is simply unacceptable.
“The allegation that cancer-causing toxins have been found in the water is something that needs immediate attention. The public need assurances as a matter of urgency that the water they are consuming has not been compromised in this way.”