Hazardous material recovered from Clare beach

THE discovery of a cylinder containing substances used for refrigeration caused part of one of Clare’s most popular beaches to be closed for a period at the weekend.

On Sunday last, a member of the public contacted gardaí after they found an object which they believed could be harmful on the beach at Lahinch.
Doolin Coast Guard members went to the scene and along with gardaí from Ennistymon carried out a search of the shoreline, where they found a metal canister.
“We, along with the gardaí, searched the beach and eventually found a gas cylinder used for refrigeration. There was a written warning on the side of it giving instructions for its disposal and highlighting its dangerous content. Obviously, most people would not know how to dispose of hazardous materials so the only way to deal with it is to call the fire service, who disposed of it accordingly,” Mattie Shannon, area officer of the Doolin Unit told The Clare Champion.
The gardaí called the Ennistymon Fire Service who examined the information on the label and cordoned it off.
Fire Service personnel and some Coast Guard members remained with the object until a special isolation container came from Shannon to safely remove the canister from the beach.
“Thankfully, there was no danger to the public and that is because of the way the incident was handled. The fire service train for situations like this. They have a chemical spills unit and they have containment units which they use to carry the dangerous product. They sent to Shannon Airport for that and took away the canister.
“A concern was that it had been in the sea for a while and may have been punctured. The coastguard’s role was to locate it and then, with the gardaí, isolate it from the public until the fire brigade arrived,” Mr Shannon concluded.