The Tynagh Mines, labelled as the most hazardous in Ireland, are to be examined by top experts sent by the European Commission.
The European Commission will be sending the experts after representations were made by a number of Fine Gael politicians in Brussels recently to highlight the lack of action by the Government on the potentially dangerous situation at the mines.
A report carried out by the Environmental Protection Agency and published earlier this year revealed there were dangerously high levels of arsenic, 1,600 times higher than safety limits, and 420 tonnes of cyanide at Tynagh Mines and that this posed a potential risk to thousands of people in east Galway. The EPA’s Historic Mine Sites Report said that of the country’s 32 old mines, Tynagh is the most hazardous.
