The potential health effects of smoke plumes from the ongoing fire at the Oxigen recycling plant in Dublin were mitigated by high winds dispersing the smoke over the weekend, the Asthma Society of Ireland (ASI) has said.
Today, three units of the Dublin fire brigade remain at the site where the “dampening down” process has begun, saturating the site at the Marywell Industrial Estate in Ballymount to ensure the fire is thoroughly extinguished.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has senior inspectors in situ and is expected to step up its investigation once access has been made safe.
Sharon Cosgrove, chief executive of the ASI, said weather conditions over the weekend most likely played a positive role in how the fire might have impacted on those in the surrounding areas.
"The winds were relatively high on Saturday; high winds will disperse the pollutants so it may not have had as bad an effect as it would have done if it was a calm day," she told The Irish Times.
“The weather would have helped a bit. I don’t think we have experience with this kind of thing. We haven’t seen anything like this over the last while so it would be concerning.”
The EPA had warned that poor air quality was likely in areas in the path of the plume but nothing serious has yet been detected.
Concerns had been raised regarding the potential toxicity of the materials that went on fire at the recycling plant last Saturday morning, particularly plastics.
Oxigen spokesman Martin Harrell said yesterday the company "recently ceased hazardous waste acceptance - all bar the asbestos", though its website still advertises Ballymount as accepting hazardous waste.
Asbestos was among the materials stored at the recycling plant but it was removed before it could catch fire, he said.
Gardaí said the blaze will not be entirely extinguished until Wednesday or Thursday and there is still no indication of what caused the fire which begun at around 3.30am on Saturday. Significant local traffic restrictions remain in place.
With the fire brigade on site to ensure the fire is completely out, Oxigen is likely to be left with the bill although the cost is unclear and will depend on the total effort involved.
The concrete and steel warehouse, which mainly contained waste from domestic green bin collections and from building and household skips, was destroyed in the blaze. Temperatures were so high at the height of the fire that the walls and roof melted.
In TV3, also based in the Ballymount industrial estate, management took precautionary measures this morning and cancelled outdoor recording, including the usual weather report from its garden.
