IFA, Askeaton
by Eanna Dowling
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Report for Blue from Irish Farmers Association’s Askeaton Press
Conference in Limerick, November 20
For background see our previous pieces, An ordinary day in Askeaton by Anne Ruimy, and In The Shadow of the Dragon: The Askeaton Tragedy, Part One by Robert Allen and Anne Ruimy. Part two to follow soon. See also our Askeaton & the Irish EPA licensing system GND Special.
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The IFA's review of the EPA report into animal
health at Askeaton in Limerick, Ireland
concluded that nearby industrial pollution
constituted a "possible cocntributing cause" to
the problems in the area. The author, Professor
Brian Alloway conducted a review of the EPA's
report published in 2001. He stated at the
launch of the report today (November 20th 2002)
that he "never analysed a report as multi-
faceted as this". The original report contained
1200 pages in four volumes and was the
culmination of 4 separate studies conducted over
a three year period 1995-1998.
Professor Alloway did not offer a definitive
cause for the problems at Askeaton. He added
that "if there wasn't industry present there
wouldn't be these levels of pollution in the
soils, animals and herbage".
This contradicted the EPA's 2001 finding
that: "Environmental pollution, toxic substances
in the diet, soil composition anomalies and
herbage composition anomalies are all unlikely
causes of the animal health problems on the
Somers and Ryan farms".
Alloway's report found 28 key points. These
included the statement that "Throughout the
project [EPA investigation] there appears to be
a biased approach to the investigations related
to environmental pollution". He also
discovered "an apparent bias in the Interim
Reports to concluding that pollution was not a
problem in the Askeaton area even before all the
relevant data had been assembled and
interpreted".
That was not the only criticism of the EPA's
scientific methodology that Alloway discovered.
He pointed out that the control farm that the
EPA used for comparison purposes was in itself a
farm that had animal health problems. He stated
that the EPA had failed to monitor for NOx and
Ozone, and they had done no analysis of the
additive effects of chemical pollution. He found
that the question of high suckler cow mortality
had not been addressed by the EPA. Another
surprising relevation was that the EPA report
was "full of things that were never followed
up". This included the fact that two different
labs analysing the same sample come up with
different results.
Speaking at the press conference to announce the
report IFA President John Dillon claimed
that "The assertion that farmers caused their
own problems is now shown to be
unsubstantiated". He subsequently conceded that
he was not a scientist and Professor Alloway did
not endorse Dillon's view. All he would say on
the matter was that "so much emphasis put on
farmers is unfortunate".
Speaking with Blue after the press launch of
Alloway's report, Liam Somers, whose farm is at
the centre of the investigation, claimed that he
was still experiencing prolems with animal
health on his farm. He has had problems with 4
animals in the last two weeks. They have
demonstrated lesions on their hides, the size of
a fist. He claimed to have lost 130 animals in
13 years. He said he had a recent letter from
the EPA acknowledging the presence of excessive
levels of aluminium in his soil. "After spending
all that time and money, we're still right back
where we started," he said.
Without commenting on the details of Alloway's
study, Somers praised the IFA - "The IFA are
doing a good job. Only for them backing us we
wouldn't be here today". He commented that the
Blowout from Aughinish Aluminium reported on
March 11th this year was the first time that an
incident of industrial pollution was
acknowledged by the polluter in all the time
that he has experienced problems at Askeaton.
Councillor David Naughton accompanied Somers at
the Launch of the report. His family have farmed
in the area for over 250 years. Although he
lives close to Liam Somers, his farm hasn't been
affected in the same way. Nevertheless he is
very concerned about the impacts of pollution in
his home environment. He claimed that pollution
problems only began with the start of industrial
activity in the area. He was concerned
that "Somers and Ryan wouldn't be treated the
same way that the Hanrahans were in Tipperary".
He was glad that "a serious concern has been
addressed", and claimed to be "happy with what
came out today".
Another local farmer Pat Coulhane spoke to Blue.
He was concerned that an opportunity to conduct
tree ring analysis had been lost. He has
personally monitored trees in the area for the
last ten years, as they are a useful indicator
of environmental pollution. A tree ring analysis
could reveal evidence of the history of
atmospheric pollution prior to the commencement
of the EPA study. He spoke of extensive tree
death in 1991, coincident with the animal health
problems on the Somers and Ryan farms. He
expressed anger that "all the reports we get
from the EPA are inconclusive".
The IFA are to seek a meeting with the EPA to
discuss the matter in detail.
– Eanna Dowling for Blue
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