Sinn Féin council leader calls for publication of toxic waste report

Sinn Féin group leader on Derry and Strabane District Council, Paul Fleming, has called on Council to ensure the swift publication of a health impact study exploring the effect of heavy industry on Strathfoyle and Culmore residents.

Publication has been delayed while council engages with a concerned stakeholder and Cllr. Fleming insisted this should be completed as quickly as possible.

People living at Culmore Point say they are concerned at the increasing levels of pollution which they claim is a result of the large level of industrial activity on the other side of Lough Foyle.

Their houses are located opposite a number of large industrial sites, including the Londonderry Port.

Their calls for the findings of an independent report into the levels of pollution around their homes to be made public have been echoed by Cllr Fleming

He said:while he appreciated the need for all concerns to be taken on board and addressed as comprehensively as possible he did not believe that it was in the public interest to prolong the process unnecessarily.

He added: ““I have been contacted by concerned constituents who fear the report is being suppressed.

Cllr Fleming concluded: “I am therefore calling on Council officials to complete their correspondence with the utmost urgency with the stakeholder who has made representation so that the Report can be made public without any further delay.”