4th November 2001

PRESS RELEASE

GREEN PARTY CALL FOR ACTION AS OIL SPILL THREATENS DÚN LAOGHAIRE COASTLINE

The Green Party has called on the Department of the Marine and Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council to take action to prevent further damage from a significant oil spillage at Bulloch Harbour close to the Forty Foot and Sandycove bathing places.

Up to several thousand litres of diesel oil have escaped from a pipeline leading from a standby generator oil tank in the grounds of Our Lady’s Manor Nursery Home. The building is owned by the Carmelite Order, and overlooks Bulloch Harbour on South Dublin’s scenic coastline. The oil has escaped underground under a five metre high retaining wall and is draining under a road into Bulloch Harbour.

“Seals are already showing signs of the pollution,” stated Ciarán Cuffe of the Green Party, “and fishermen can no longer store shellfish within the Harbour.

All sea-life around the area of the spill has been destroyed. We are calling on the County Council to excavate the area of the spill, and immediately remove the contaminated soil so as to prevent further damage. This spill is only five hundred metres from Sandycove and the Forty Foot bathing area. Unless action is taken immediately, the entire coastline could be seriously polluted.

“The Authorities were made aware of the spill a month ago. So far all we have seen are a few sandbags, and some green tracer dye that is being used to trace the spillage. The Council under the Water Pollution Acts has issued a Section 12 Notice. However the oil is still seeping into the harbour and we need action, not legal wrangling.”

ENDS

For further information contact:

Ciarán Cuffe, 087 265 2075 or 618 3082

Stephen Rawson, Press Officer 087 235 7551 or 618 4088