CANCER CAUSING ASBESTOS USED ON BUILDING SITES
The material came from Ballinclare Quarry in Glenealy
EIGHTEEN building sites in County Wicklow have been using stone containing the cancer-causing mineral asbestos.
The asbestos, which is a naturally occurring asbestos, was found in a seam of rock at Ballinclare Quarry near Carrigmore, Glenealy.
Following a blast at the quarry in April some 2,500 tonnes of material had been distributed to 20 building sites, 18 of which were in Wicklow. The offending rock had been covered in concrete before the asbestos was spotted on 11 of these sites and doesn’t pose a threat to the public.
The remaining nine sites needed remedial works and Michael Boland of Wicklow County Council said that two sites have already been cleared.
EIGHTEEN building sites in County Wicklow have been using stone containing the cancer-causing mineral asbestos.
The asbestos which is a naturally occurring asbestos was found in a seam of rock at Ballinclare Quarry near Carrigmore, Glenealy.
Michael Boland of Wicklow County Council said that an area of the quarry was blasted in April after many years of inactivity in that section producing 25,000 tonnes of material. Some 2,500 tonnes of this material has since been shipped out of the quarry and distributed to 20 building sites, two in Dublin and the remaining 18 in Wicklow.
However an employee at the quarry noticed crystals of material in the rock and he suspected this to be asbestos. He said that the Kilsaran, the company which now owns the quarry, immediately closed down the site of the blast and contacted authorities.
Consultants were then hired to determine where the material which had already been taken from the quarry was being used.
He said that the sites were inspected with the HSE and on nine sites the material hadn’t been covered by concrete. On these sites the offending rock was covered with hard plastic and soil to protect it from the elements and each site was examined to determine the best way to remove it. The eleven sites where the rock have already been covered with concrete do not require any remedial works because they don’t pose a threat to the public.
Mr. Boland said that two sites have already been cleared and said that work on one Wicklow site started last week. Three more sites in Wicklow are expected to be started this week.
Mr Boland said that the rock material with the asbestos will be returned to the Ballinclare Quarry where it will be remediated by Kilsaran working with the EPA.
Mr Boland said asbestos doesn’t generally occur in the rocks in this part of the Leinster Mountains adding this is the first known case occurring in Leinster granite. He added the rock cut across the eastern side of the quarry is very narrow and said that ‘everything has been done to remedy the situation’.
Mr Boland denied that any of the rock had been used in the building of a school in Greystones.