PRESS RELEASE

For immediate release: December 3, 2001

Dioxins & cancer shuts ANOTHER INCINERATOR Down

The forced closure of yet another Waste Incinerator (France) strengthens the case of Cork Harbour for a Safe Environment (CHASE) in their demands of authorities not to grant planning permission for the building of a National Hazardous Waste Incinerator in Ringaskiddy.

Last week (27 November, 2001) former Olympic City, Albertville, near the Swiss-Italian borders of France, had to be hastily shut down by the regional authorities after record levels of dioxin contamination were discovered in the environment. About ten farms have received orders not to sell any of their produce.

One cow is contaminated at 70 pg/g fat, one of the highest numbers ever registered in France (1). A herd has a level of contamination 24 times above the "quality" limit set by the (French) Agriculture ministry and soil contamination has also been discovered. CHASE will be presenting these findings to the Farming Community, as Ireland currently has the lowest dioxin levels in the world.

These findings have fuelled fears that the Albertville Incinerator has provoked a substantial number of cancers, some fatal.  In a study carried out on a similar French incinerator, in Besancon, people living near the Besancon incinerator had a higher risk of developing cancer than the rest of the population.  Clear concentrations of Soft-Tissue Sarcoma and Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma were found in clusters around the Besancon incinerator.

Sean Cronin, CHASE Chairman said, “It is madness that the Irish Government and Authorities are even considering Waste Incineration as a solution to our waste problem, when there is clear evidence from other countries that incineration causes cancer, fatalities, and numerous other illnesses and when so many other countries are shutting their incinerators down.  CHASE will not tolerate selling the health of the 50,000 Harbour Area inhabitants for convenience, for jobs, for profit or for any other reason.”

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(1) pg or picogram: a millionth of a millionth of a gram.

For further information contact:

Linda Fitzpatrick, CHASE PR Team

Tel:       021 4374506

Mobile:       086 8181025

E-mail:       Linda@mediasat.ie

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

About Cork Harbour for a Safe Environment (CHASE)

CHASE was formed by a group of people from the Greater Carrigaline area, concerned about the health, environmental and economic implications of solutions proposed by Minister Noel Dempsey to the current national waste crisis in Ireland, i.e. to build 7 incinerators nationwide, 2 of which (1 hazardous waste, 1 municipal waste) are proposed for Ringaskiddy.  The group changed its name to Cork Harbour for a Safe Environment (CHASE) to reflect the fact that Incineration is a Cork issue, not just a Carrigaline issue.   CHASE is currently working to bring these concerns to the public arena, together with a proposal for a safer, more sustainable non-burn alternative.

CHASE now represents: Ringaskiddy & District Residents' Association Ltd; Carrigaline for a Safe Environment; Crosshaven for a Safe Environment; Monkstown & Passage for a Safe Environment; Mothers and Children Against Incineration, Ringaskiddy; Cobh Action for Clean Air; Kinsale Environmental Group; East Cork for a Safe Environment; Middleton and East Cork Environmental Association; Youghal Action for a Safe Environment

CHASE is supported by the Irish Doctors Environmental Association and the Irish Midwives Association, and is currently finalizing the support of a number of other large Irish organizations.