Wicklow's Dumps may have Toxic Effects

County Wicklow's waste dumps may have seriously toxic effects, says the first ever cross-border study into the country's growing waste crisis. The study is titled 'Waste Management Strategy: A Cross-Border Perspective' and was carried out by NUI Maynooth and Queen's University. It warns that leaks from waste landfills can release toxic

Minister of the Environment Noel Dempsey visits one of Wicklow's Dumps

chemicals, heavy metals, and other matter into soil, streams and rivers, resulting in "long-term environmental contamination and human health problems".

The study quotes British research that found that children whose mothers lived near landfills were 33% more likely to have birth defects than children whose mothers lived further away. The study also refered to a Friends of the Earth survey of 100 UK landfill sites which found that over 33% were contaminating surface or ground water. Further research by the UK environmental authority found that incineration was the biggest source of toxic dioxins in the environment.

The joint Maynooth/Queens study comes shortly after the publication of a report of the British Imperial College which found

Landfill may be Dangerous

that there was a 7% greater chance of neural tube defects such as spina bifida and a 6% increased risk of low birth weight among children living within two kilometres of landfill sites.

These findings will be of particular concern to residents of Avoca and Arklow, who live downstream from Wicklow's largest landfill at Ballymurtagh, Avoca. The Ballymurtagh landfill is particularly porous due to past mining in the area. Blasting from the open-pit mining has fractured the rock surrounding the landfill, allowing toxins to drain into the Avoca river and surrounding soil more easily. Other concerns involved the many illegal landfills recently found in the Garden County, including one located beside the Aughrim river upstream from Aughrim and the Woodenbridge trout farm - an area popular for fishing.