The principal of Silvermines National School said yesterday he was extremely concerned at the inter-agency report's findings that soil in the school playground had a relatively high lead content.
Mr Billy Grace, one of three teachers at the school, which has 65 pupils, said samples were taken six months ago from the playing pitch, and almost every school going child in the north Tipperary village of Silvermines had been tested for lead poisoning by the Mid Western Health Board.
The contamination is a legacy of the zinc activities of Mogul Ireland, which ceased its mining activities in 1982 after 25 years. Locals have long complained of the dust blowing from the dried-out tailings pond.
Dr Kevin Kelleher, director of public health with the health board, said the recommendation to put a hard surface over the Silver mines school playing area was valid but "very precautionary and conservative", particularly because it involved children.
The advice to wash and peel home-grown fruit and vegetables and to discard the outer leaves of leafy vegetables was given because a small sample had slightly raised levels of lead. Of the 700 people who had undergone blood tests for lead contamination, only one had significantly high levels, an elder ly person who had lived there all his life. Six were borderline.
About 60 per cent of the sample were children, including virtually all those of primary school-going ages. About two-thirds of children aged under five were also sampled.
Silvermines has a legacy of mining going back centuries, but much of the tension surrounding the current controversy centres on a tailings pond facility constructed by Mogul Ireland.
Testing of the 23 sq km area was undertaken following the deaths of three cattle with significant lead levels in their blood. An Environmental Protection Agency report last year found that apart from the dust blows, which first began in late 1984, the tailings pond, a special dump for mining ore, was leaching contaminants into the environment.
Mogul sold the 147-acre tailings pond to a local farmer, but the EPA believes this was an offence under the Waste Management Act and states that Mogul/Ennex remains the legal owner of the tailings waste. Discussions have continued with Mogul/Ennex to develop a comprehensive rehabilitation plan.
The secretary of Mogul Ireland, Mr David Coyle, said talks were continuing with the Department of the Marine and Natural Resources about the pond's management. He said that although the tailings pond had bare areas, most of it was well covered with grass. He said no link had been established between the pond and the cattle deaths or the contaminated soil in the school playground.