ANTI-SELLAFIELD CAMPAIGNERS ARE DISMAYED AT SURVEY
CEFAS HAVE CLOSE LINKS TO BRITISH GOVERNMENT SAYS COUNCILLOR MARK DEAREY August 2007
ANTI-SELLAFIELD campaigners react angrily to news that a British government agency is selected to carry out a survey that will focus on the impact of the plant on Louth people.
It is revealed that CEFAS, a branch of Britain’s environment department, will do the survey, due to start in eleven months’ time.
CEFAS is the only organisation to apply for the €60,000 tender to carry out the study, and is appointed by Ireland’s nuclear watchdog, the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland (RPII).
The study will look at fish-eating habits of people near the major north-east ports, including Carlingford, Skerries and Clogherhead.
It is expected that the study will be performed on a door-to-door basis, and will ask whether people who eat fish and shellfish from the eastern Irish Sea are more prone to radioactivity-linked illnesses.
Anti-Sellafield campaigner and Green Party town councillor, Mark Dearey, says he is dismayed that the RPII appoints an organisation with such close links to the British government, the sole shareholder of Sellafield.
Cllr. Dearey adds this isn’t the first piece of research done in the north Louth area about the effects of the nuclear plant.
‘When we were mounting the legal challenge against Sellafield more than ten years ago, research was carried out on our behalf by Dr Chris Busby, a recognised expert in this area.
‘Although the research was carried out on a small scale, in Carlingford and Greenore, it proved there was a link between certain cancers and people living in close proximity to the sea.’
It enjoyed a 96% response rate, despite the sensitive nature of the questions which asked people about their families’ health history.
‘ The research was not made public because the case went to court, but it features in a new book by Dr Busby which will be out shortly.’
Cllr. Dearey continues he is ‘sure’ more organisations would have tendered for the shellfish research project if they had known about it, and says the surveys needs to be done by independent people for it to have credibility.
While he welcomes the attempts to gain more information about the effects of Sellafield on the north Leinster population, he says the appointment of ‘a wing of the British government’ is not the way to do it.
The decision to appoint CEFAS is defended by Dr Tony Colgan of the RPII.
He says while the institute would have liked more bidders for the €60,000 project, CEFAS is ‘a highly reputable lab with a huge amount of experience.’
He points out CEFAS will be involved in just collecting the data rather than analysing it.
Dr Colgan comments, ‘We don’t have the information about where people in the north Leinster coastal region are getting their fish from or whether they are eating any locally-caught fish at all.
‘CEFAS will be collecting the data in its raw form for us. They won’t be analysing it.’