WATERFORD COUNTY Council officials will begin an assessment of the clean-up operation required to remedy the scene of a fire at a disused recycling centre in Lismore once they are given assurances by health and safety experts that it is safe to do so.
According to a council spokesman, a detailed assessment of the clean-up costs at the site of the Sam Shire Recycling Ltd in Lismore will be taken into account in a court hearing between the council and Sam Shire Recycling Ltd. The case had been listed for the High Court on Monday to compel the owner of the property to remove up to 4,000 tonnes of recycled material on the site where a programme of works agreeable to the council was due to be formally agreed in court.
However, following the fire at the plant on Mayfield Road on Sunday night, the case was adjourned but is now listed for next week, when it is expected that the additional clean-up costs will be taken into account in any agreement.
The news comes after some 50 residents of the 20 houses in the Mills Estate adjacent to the centre were given the all-clear by the council to return to their homes yesterday morning.
The residents had been evacuated on Monday morning amid fears that the blaze would lead to asbestos from the roof becoming airborne and threatening the health of those in the area.
However, air quality tests carried out by a private consultant on behalf of the council at six different locations have indicated that no levels of airborne asbestos were contained in the samples taken.
Waterford County Fire Service members from Lismore, Cappoquin, Tallow and Dungarvan spent more than 24 hours bringing the blaze under control on Sunday and Monday.