An ESB spokesman confirmed that some 10 tonnes of insulation containing asbestos from Portarlington power station had been dumped in local bogs over a 20-year period. However, he said the ESB stopped this practice about 1970 after it became clear from medical evidence that asbestos was a cancer-causing agent, constituting an "unacceptable risk" to public health.
He explained that the asbestos had been dumped with more than 200,000 tonnes of peat ash from the power station and the overlaying of this material meant that it was now "immobile and compacted" and no longer a health risk.
The last consignment of asbestos from the Portarlington power station, which has now been largely demolished, would be exported to Germany at the end of August for final disposal, he added.