A Dutch company has launched a €115 million compensation claim in the High Court against two Irish firms over the contamination of animal feed in 2002, which caused one of the worst food scares in Europe in recent years. Liam Reid reports.
In July 2002, sugar water contaminated with the hormone MPA found its way into pig feed in Belgium and Holland, resulting in the culling of 55,000 animals.
The sugar water came from the Wyeth Medica Ireland (WMI) plant in Newbridge, Co Kildare. It had been exported by Dublin waste disposal firm Cara Environmental Technology.
Schuurmans & Van Ginneken (SVG), a Netherlands-based molasses and liquid manufacturer and supplier, has lodged a 115 million claim against both firms. WMI is a subsidiary of the multinational pharmaceutical giant Wyeth Medica.
According to documents filed by Wyeth with the Security and Exchanges Commission (SEC), SVG "alleges that WMI conspired with its waste disposal contractors to improperly dispose of a sugar water process stream that contained medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA).
"SVG seeks damages in excess of 115 million for its own alleged direct losses related to the clean-up of systems and destruction of MPA-contaminated molasses, and alleged losses made against it by various third parties, including compound feed manufacturers and pig farmers represented by the German Legal Aid Service."
Wyeth has also received a letter of claim from various organisations representing Dutch farming interests for unspecified losses. The firm "intends to continue to defend all of the foregoing litigation vigorously", according to the SEC documentation.
A spokesman for Cara Environmental Technology said it was also going to contest any claim vigorously.
The incident, in July 2002, resulted in the slaughter of some 55,000 pigs, while half of the 7,000 pig farmers in Holland were forced to close their businesses temporarily.
An investigation established that the feed had been contaminated with sugar water containing traces of MPA, which had been used in the coating of contraceptive pills at WMI.
A report by the Environmental Protection Agency found this had been released for disposal to Cara Environmental Technology.
The waste had incorrectly been classified in 2000 as green waste, the report said.