CARLOW COUNTY Council did not inspect the Millstream plant at the centre of the dioxin scare which closed down the pigmeat industry after an initial assessment in 2005, it was revealed at Dáil Committee yesterday.
It was also told that the operators had introduced heat treatment of waste food at some stage during the period 2006-2008 and that was in breach of the permit it received.
New details of the operation of the plant where the contamination of animal feed took place were given to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture from the final witnesses it heard in its month-long investigation.
Carlow county manager Tom Barry said a waste permit for specified waste disposal and recovery activities had been issued on February 23rd, 2006.
“The facility was due to be inspected during 2008 under the council’s environmental inspection plan prepared for 2008,” he said.
“However, prior to the date of the incident, no inspection had been carried out on the facility which was classified as a Category B facility under the inspection plan,” he said.
He said this category covered medium-sized installations with lesser risk of environmental pollution and the EPA had recommended that such installations be visited a minimum of once a year and samples taken if deemed necessary.
He said the operator had been compliant and had submitted annual environmental reports for 2006 and 2007. The third report was due for 2008 by the end of February this year.
John Carley, director of services at the council, said a number of staff had left the council and it carried out the inspections which it was legally bound to do as a priority.
“This was primarily a waste disposal facility and that waste was being turned into animal feed which was regulated by the Department of Agriculture. We did not have a legal obligation to inspect,” said Mr Carley.
Pat Connolly, senior executive engineer at the council, said the waste permit given to the plant, which handled 9,400 tonnes of food waste annually, did not cover the heat treatment of the food. He conceded the change would have been seen had the plant been inspected.
The witnesses could not say when the heating plant had been introduced and also said there had been no public complaints about the facility at Ballybrommell, Fenagh, Co Carlow.
Minister for Agriculture Brendan Smith said a comprehensive review of the incident involving the departments of agriculture, health and children and all relevant bodies, to be chaired by Prof Patrick Wall of UCD, would take place.
This would make recommendations on whatever adjustments of controls were necessary in the light of the experience gained in dealing with what was obviously a new challenge, he said. He said changes would be implemented in the risk assessment for feed inspection processes. Already, feed business operators involved in drying grain and feed had now to incorporate details of oil used in the quality control system.