Eight hospitalised after Shannon incident

SHANNON company, Chemifloc has yet to comment after an incident last Thursday which saw eight people hospitalised.

 

There has been anger in the town following the incident, with concerns raised about local air quality.
Seven people were brought to Mid-Western Regional Hospital Limerick after the incident on Thursday, December 20, while an eighth self-presented later. A spokesman for the HSE said two of the eight were still in hospital last Saturday but he was unable to provide information on their current condition. He said those hospitalised had respiratory problems.

A Chemifloc spokesperson said the company is investigating the matter and will not make a comment until after the investigation has been completed.

In a statement on Friday, December 21, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) detailed the previous evening’s events. “The EPA was notified by phone at 16.55 on Thursday, December 20 by Chemifloc Ltd, Smithstown Industrial Estate, Shannon, County Clare of an incident which occurred at their premises at 16.35. The incident involved an uncontrolled release of vapour containing chlorine-based substances, which occurred during the loading of a product onto a road tanker at the facility. A number of staff of the company were taken to hospital and several neighbouring business premises were evacuated on a precautionary basis as a result of the incident.”

They said that there was no ongoing risk to the public. “The licensee also notified the Clare County Fire Services, Clare County Council and the Health and Safety Authority (HSA). The agency has been in close contact with these agencies since the incident occurred and understands that Clare Fire Service declared the incident to be under control at approximately 20.00. Based on information to hand at this time, the EPA is satisfied there is no ongoing release or risk of environmental pollution as a result of the incident. An EPA inspector visited the site on Friday morning to verify whether the incident had had any environmental impact and to assist the primary response agencies as necessary.

It said it would also be looking closely at the incident. “EPA inspectors will prepare a full report on the incident in due course, after which the agency will consider further enforcement action. The priority for the EPA is to ensure that the necessary management practices are in place to eliminate the causes of this type of incident and to protect the environment.”

A spokesman for the Clare Fire Service said approximately 20 nearby businesses had been evacuated but it had not been necessary to close any main roads.

Chemifloc was also in trouble in 2009 when a jury found the company guilty of causing or permitting emissions to the atmosphere at Smithstown Industrial Estate on May 24, 2007. Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin heard details of the offence and on July 23, 2009, he imposed a fine of €5,000 and awarded the EPA expenses of €5,000.

Speaking to The Clare Champion on Friday of last week, Councillor Sean McLoughlin said a lot of people had been in touch with him after the incident. “I got a good few calls about it and people are concerned. We had that horrible smell in Shannon for years and suddenly it reappeared yesterday. People were very worried and then they heard that people had been taken to hospital.”

Chemifloc was not responsible for the odour that afflicted Shannon for several years, becoming known as the “Shannon smell”. However, Councillor McLoughlin said last week’s odour had been strong and raised fears about what might be going into the air, without any public knowledge. “The big worry of people who contacted me was what is going into the air in Shannon, that we don’t hear about. Is there odourless stuff that we don’t know about?”

He also said that public health must be prioritised above industry. “We want clean industry and unfortunately, companies were allowed to come in when we had very high unemployment previously and unfortunately, people didn’t know the dangers of them.”

The Fine Gael representative said the EPA should have a full-time presence in Shannon to monitor the local industries.

Independent  Shannon Town Councillor Cathy McCafferty was angry about the incident. “It’s not acceptable. I intend to raise it at town council level and to request that the county councillors raise it as well. We want a full explanation from the EPA also, it’s totally unacceptable.”

She said there had been a lot of concern among members of the public. “I had several phone calls from concerned people in the town. They didn’t know whether they could go out or not. We don’t know what’s going on or what we’re breathing in and people in the town are scared,” Councillor McCafferty concluded.