THE American multinational company Procter & Gamble has been warned it will not receive a State licence to operate unless stringent pollution-control measures are in place. The firm is to be prosecuted for contaminating Nenagh's water supply.
Failure to win an integrated water-pollution licence from the Environmental Protection Agency could lead to the closure of the plant.
The EPA was processing Procter & Gamble's application for the licence when water supplies serving a quarter of Nenagh's population were contaminated early last month. Yesterday the EPA said it would not license the factory until it was satisfied all relevant issues had been adequately addressed by the company.
In law, the EPA has the power to close Procter & Gamble for non-compliance, but the company will be allowed to continue operating while the licence is being processed.
In a detailed report on the contamination, published yesterday, the EPA made it clear that the presence in the polluted water supply of chemical compounds such as siloxanes linked Procter & Gamble directly to the incident.
The EPA also linked two other firms, Tubex and SFADCo, to the contamination of the Gortland roe well which provides Nenagh's water.
Because of its size, Procter & Gamble comes directly under the control of the EPA. Tubex, which manufactures plastic packaging for Procter & Gamble, and SFADCo, which controls storm and foul drains in the estate, receive their operating permits from the local authority, Nenagh Urban District Council.
The EPA report also found that the district council may itself have been a contributor to the problem. It called on the local authority to carry out tests on its sewage system.
The EPA said it would initiate legal action against Procter & Gamble under new EPA legislation, and said Nenagh UDC should consider similar action against Tubex and SFADCo. The EPA also said the urban district council would be prosecuted if its role in the incident was found to be significant.
The report drew defensive reactions from each of the parties named.
SFADCo said its drains had been found by a team of consultants to be in good, leak-free working order. The UDC, in a statement, avoided discussing its possible role in the problem. Procter & Gamble said it had discharged - with permission - into a foul drain in the estate which was not its responsibility.
A spokesman for Tubex said late last night that the company was surprised at the contents of the report. It had contacted experts in the relevant field yesterday and would be contacting the EPA as soon as possible on Monday to obtain their assistance.
Nenagh residents will continue to be supplied with drinking water by tankers until a new supply source has been passed.
Procter & Gamble's application for an integrated water pollution licence was before the EPA when last month's contamination happened. The EPA had sought clarification from the company of some aspects of the application, but the likelihood is that even more stringent conditions will be imposed in view of the damage to the town's domestic water supply.
The company has been instructed by the EPA to carry out a detailed hydro-geological study of its factory site and to outline what measures need to be put in place to avoid any future incident. Tubex and SFADCo have been told to conduct similar studies.