Time and Patience in the Suir Valley

"Is dioxin a dangerous substance?" one councillor asked.

"We're talking about things we know nothing about," said another.

What was the point, the councilllor wanted to know, in attendding a conference on sheep-dipping when the problem .was dogs. You might as well stay at home, he added. Dogs were roving the countryside killing sheep. Was this matter raised at the conference on sheep-dipping? Was it? No, it wasn't.

It was June 11 1984 and an ordiinary meeting of South Tipperary County Council Councillors were worried. If the register of electors was put on computer then there would he job losses among printers; some councillors were opposed to this. A lengthy discussion ensued.

Then it was the turn of Con Donovan, a councillor all the way from Ballyporeen. He wanted to thank all and sundry for their help with Reagan's visit. David Mackey, the county secretary, J.P. O'Callaghan, the county engineer, Seamus Hayes, the new county mamager, the South Eastern Health Board, the Red Cross, the ESB, Telecom Eireann, "the national, local and world press" and many many more. Con Donovan was fulsome in his praise for the great work all these had done.

The last item on the agenda was the "serious water problem in Cappaghhwhite", which was discussed at some length before the break for lunch.

For the councillors it was an ordiinary morning around the parish pump; they were discussing matters they understood. For the first hour of their afternoon session it was a different matter. During this hour they disscussed a new report about the Merck Sharp and Dohme factory in Ballydine, just six miles away. With one excepption, not one councillor had seen the report. Most of them did not even seem to understand the county engiineer's summary of it.

In the morning there was a delegaation from Ballydine outside the council offices. In the afternoon the delegation came into the council chamber to listen to what the elected representatives and officials had to say. They included John Hanrahan, on whose farm 150 cattle have died for reasons unknown. He believes that they were poisoned by emissions from the Merck Sharp and Dohme chemical factory in Ballydine. Tommy Rockett was there; he has had problems with his cattle since 1981.' John Widger, another local farmer, who has had similar problems over the same period. Paddy O'Meara, who claims that his health has been ruined by the factory.

Although the complaints and conntroversy about the factory have conntinued since 1978, the members of the council seemed to know very little about what was happening in Ballyydine. Most of them spoke from posiitions of extreme ignorance. "Is dioxin a dangerous substanoe?" one councilllor asked.

Sean Treacy TD thought that the allegations against the factory were "casting a shadow OVER THIS MAGNIFICENT INDUSTRY". "no one would have the temerity to say that there is anything in the nature of a cover up here," he said and pointed out that there was no evidence that there was any direct link between Merck Sharp and Dohme and the problems of local farmers.

A number of questions were asked by Teresa Aherne of Fine Gael. Was the county council sure that there is no problem on any farm except John Hanrahan's farm? Who is monitoring the Merck Sharp and Dohme factory? If there are spot checks on the factory, how are they done?

The next speaker, P.J. Maher, said that he believed that there should be continuing monitoring. "We're talking about things we know nothing about," he said.

The new county manager spoke briefly. He said there was no such thing as a cover-up.

He was followed by the county engineer, J.P. O'Callaghan. Mr O'Callaaghan did not address himself to any of the specific issues or questions raised by the councillors. He stated simply that "all necessary monitoring is being done by Merck Sharp and Dohme." "There is nothing to connect the emisssions from the factory and the animal problem," he said. He concluded his brief statement with: "I consider it time to cry halt."

Mr O'Callaghan could have easily answered some of the questions put to him by councillors. Teresa Aherne of Fine Gael had asked, for example, if there were problems on other farms besides John Hanrahan's. lli O'Callaghan has been aware of complaints from other farmers since 1981. Paddy O'Meara, for example,

Who was standing at the back of the uncil chamber, told his story to J.P. O'Callaghan in November 1981 when o Callaghan visited him in the company of John Coffey of the Department of the Environment. A year later he told his story to Dr Jimmy Walshe of the Department of Health. His account was printed in Magill in june 1983; he spoke to RTE's Day By Day at the same time.

Paddy O Meara claims that at five o'clock in the morning on the last Sunday of 1981 he was in a field with his cattle and sheep across the river from the chemical factory.

He noticed his cattle sniffing the air and the sheep running up the field. The air was thick with a kind of fog. He could feel it burning him, he says. For the following three months he was unable to work and he attended a doctor in Clonmel. The cows in the field that morning faded away, he says, and all but two of the 24 sheep were barren the following year.

Despite the fact that he told the story of what happened to the county engineer and two government represenntatives no investigation has ever been done into his case, no monitors have ever been put on his land, he has never been examined medically, his animals have never been examined; his doctor it is understood, has never been asked 'for information on Paddy O'Meara.

Mr 0 'Callaghan could also have answered Teresa Aherne's question about who is monitoring the factory. Firstly there are no monitors on any of the farms around the factory. This monitoring was stopped on the recommmendation of Mr O'Callaghan and Mr Mark Lynch of the Department of Agriculture, who also summarised all the reports which had been done up to 1982.

There were considerable inaccuraacies in both their summaries; all of these inaccuracies placed the factory in a better light.

Both Mark Lynch and J.P. O'Callaaghan recommended that monitoring should stop until the Department of Agriculture did tests on John Hanraahan's animals. These tests have now been done. There is no suggestion, however, that the monitoring will return.

The Department of Agriculture tests, done in November 1983, on John Hanrahan's farm have come up with nothing; it is understood that the Taoiseach, who was intensely preoccuupied by the problems in Ballydine, is now of the opinion that the factory cannot be blamed for these problems. The government is concerned that the continuing allegations against the facctory will cause other such companies to be wary of coming to Ireland. The cows were tested for dioxin among other things. Nothing was found. There is now a fear that it was a misstake to test cows which were ailing and had lost weight because dioxin would more likely lodge in fat tissue.

The latest report on the Merck Sharp and Dohme incinerator was produced by the IIRS and was received by the council along with the views of Dr Ian Jamieson of An Foras Forrbartha on the findings. The county engineer, J.P. O'Callaghan made recommendations to the county manager on the basis of these two documents.

The emissions from the factory were monitored by the IIRS over three days at the end of November 1983. The IIRS tested for seven items of fuel coming out of the chimney. They found that acid vapours coming from the chimney exceeded the specified limits laid down in the planning perrmission. Although they tested for phosgene they could not have found it as they only tested the emissions in the middle of production. Phosgene would have come at the beginning or the end. Phosgene is a poison gas which was used in World War I.

The findings imply that there is a 1.8 per cent unspecified chloride in the fuel. This could be any number of things, some of them poisonous. The chloroform level, which is specified in the findings goes down over the three days, yet the general chloride level goes down, up again and down. It would be interesting to know what other chloride substances are wanderring around the chimney.

The council has recommended that there should be one more test before they cry halt. This will be another three-day test by the IIRS on the emisssions. It will not be done, however, until improvements have been made in the pump and mixing process in Merck Sharp and Dohme. This time the IIRS will look for phosgene at the beginning and end of the emission process.

They will also look for .dioxin. It is accepted that there is a possibility that dioxins are present in the solvent incinerator. Dioxin is what poisoned Seveso. Merck Sharp and Dohme deny that there are any dioxins in theemisssions from the factory. Ian Jamieson of An Foras Forbartha says that "it is considered most unlikely that dioxins should be present in solvent incineraator emissions at the Ballydine factory but because of their emotive nature and the use of chlorinated solvents including Chlorobenzene it is recommmended that comprehensive testing for dioxin should be carried out ... " Both county engineer and county manager have agreed with this.

It is extraordinary that South Tippperary County Council have waited for so long to test for dioxin, or indeed for phosgene. The first complaints about the factory came in 1978. The worst year for the local farmers who have complained was 1981. It may be well into 1985 before the new tests have been completed. In the meantime, cattle continue to die on John Hanraahan's farm. Easter this year was partiicularly bad: the calves being born are now deformed as well as stillborn. One of the calves born over Easter had no head. •