A government plan to rehabilitate an area polluted by intensive mining met with a mixed reaction by locals in Silvermines, Co Tipperary.
Locals greeted the plan as a genuine attempt to rehabilitate the area, but questioned why some landowners could be faced with huge bills for land restoration.
The Management and Rehabilitation of the Silvermines Area, a report by SRK mining consultants for the Department of the Marine and Natural Resources, lays out a €5.2 million plan to reduce risks associated with past mining in the Silvermines area.
The thrust of the four-year plan is to prevent the spread of toxic dust, improve water quality in streams, remove hazardous wastes and make mine workings and shafts safe in the Silvermines area.
The report recommends that the Gortmore Tailing Management Facility (TMF), associated with toxic dust over the past 30 years and blamed locally for having adverse effects on animal and human health in the mid-1980s, should be rehabilitated.
Other waste, from smaller mining sites, would be removed and stockpiled at the Gortmore TMF.
The four-year management and rehabilitation plan was greeted by Mr Eamonn De Stafort, spokesman for the Silvermines Environmental Action Group, as a "major declaration of intent to rehabilitate an area that has suffered much from the effects of mining.
This is an honest attempt to right the wrongs of the past," said Mr De Stafort.
However, Mr De Stafort reacted angrily to issues relating to the funding of the plan.
Some landowners could have to spend thousands of euro rehabilitating their own lands, he said.
"It is outrageous that farmers have to pay for rehabilitative works and it is not acceptable at this stage. This will not be entertained locally," Mr De Stafort said
Half of the money needed to undertake remedial works is expected to be met by the mining companies.
The remainder has not been granted by the Government.
Mr J.E. Kelly, for the Department of the Marine and Natural Resources, said the Department would not be granting money for rehabilitative works unless necessary legislative changes are made by Government.
"Other work will have to be carried out by landowners themselves," said Mr Kelly.
The plan could have negative implications for a landfill at Silvermines.
Mr Richard Connolly, one of the consultants who prepared the report, said water at the Garryard Open Cast mine, where Waste Management Operations Ireland Ltd (WMI) plan to house a multi-million landfill, should not be touched.
WMI plan to pump water from the open-cast mine to make way for their landfill.
Currently, An Bord Pleanála are deciding on whether a discharge licence should be granted to WMI after an oral hearing in relation to the matter was heard in February last.
Locals called for the report to be backed with finance from the Government and mining interests.
"We are calling on the various Government agencies to ensure that adequate and immediate funding is pledged for the rehabilitation programme," said Mr De Stafort.
The management and rehabilitation plan for the Silvermines area was welcomed by the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources, Mr Fahey.
He said: "The findings of this extensive study confirm that Silvermines is a save place to live, to grow and to farm. The SRK proposals for the area are complex and involve much inter-related actions through the district to deal with waste and water problems".