The author of an independent report commissioned by the Irish Farmers' Association into unexplained animal deaths in the Askeaton area of Co Limerick in the early 1990s has said that industrial pollution could not be ruled out as a cause.
However, Prof Brian Alloway conceded at the launch of the report in Limerick yesterday that "we are no closer to finding out the actual cause of the animals' deaths".
One of the farmers worst affected told the launch a small number of his stock were now showing the same symptoms that killed large numbers of his cattle in the early 1990s.
Askeaton farmer Mr Liam Somers, who has lost 96 cattle over a 10-year period, said yesterday: "I have come across four animals on my farm in the last two weeks with lumps on their hides about inch and a half square and they are very similar to what went on before." Mr Somers was one of a number of Askeaton farmers present yesterday who claimed that they were now "vindicated" by the Alloway review.
Prof Alloway was commissioned by the IFA to review an inter-agency report published by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last year which ruled out industrial pollution as the cause of the deaths which occurred on 27 farms in Askeaton in the early 1990s.
Instead, the EPA pointed the finger in part at farming practices, causing families in the Askeaton area to label the report a "whitewash".
Yesterday, IFA president Mr John Dillon claimed that the Alloway review "has identified a series of serious omissions and failures in scientific monitoring and analysis by the EPA and others into the animal health problems in the Askeaton area".
Mr Dillon said the review identified failures by the EPA to include pollutants in the environmental monitoring of the area and stated that there was insufficient reliable evidence to reach the main conclusions arrived at in the EPA report that industrial pollution did not cause the animal health problems.
In the report, Prof Alloway said that Askeaton had been exposed to relatively low, but significant amounts of atmospheric pollution from ESB plants and industries established in the area, adding that "the full extent of the pollution is not yet known because some important pollutants were omitted from the monitoring".
He described the Askeaton situation as "a serious problem and not yet understood, but it probably has several possible causes which are interacting".
Farmer and member of the Askeaton Ballysteen Animal Health Committee, Cllr David Naughton (FG) said: "The pity about it is that €5.3 million in taxpayers' money has been spent on various reports and Liam Somers is back in the same situation this week as he was in 1991 and 1992.
"The pollution that is there may not be major pollution, but it has upset a very delicate balance in the area and it has to be recognised and to be addressed."
A spokesman for the nearby Aughinish Alumina Ltd said yesterday: "As far as the company is concerned, the issue was dealt with very comprehensively by the Government's official investigation led by the EPA that found that industrial pollution had nothing to do with the animal health problems in Askeaton."
The spokesman said that the company gave its full co-operation to that investigation and he declined to comment on the Alloway review findings.
Mr Dillon called for further monitoring of environmental quality in the Askeaton area.
