FEAR swept Shannon in recent days as residents and workers were left in the dark about just how dangerous a chemical cloud drifting over the town was. “It’s not good enough. People can’t be left in Limbo for an hour while there are chemicals floating in the air. We urgently need a system of communication to let people know what is happening and how serious an incident like this is,” said Cllr Patricia McCarthy, chairperson of the Shannon town council committee which deals with the emergency services.
Eight people were hospitalised after a spillage of chlorine at the Chemifloc Plant on Smithstown Industrial Estate sent a vapour cloud into the air. Seven people were taken to the Midwest Regional Hospital immediately after the incident on Thursday afternoon and another presented at the hospital’s emergency department in the early hours of Friday morning.
It is understood that two of the people hospitalised were quite ill but stable.
Clare fire service issued a precautionary message on local radio advising motorists in the vicinity of the M18 motorway and N19 link road to Shannon, to drive with their windows closed. The vapour cloud was blown in that direction by the northerly breeze.
Meanwhile, gardaí set up roadblocks at the entrance to the plant and industrial estate allowing only emergency vehicles in. A number of nearby premises were evacuated while fire crews investigated the extent of the incident.
Cllr McCarthy said there was “absolute fear” in Shannon in the wake of the incident. Paying tribute to the “swift and efficient” action of the emergency services she said the system of letting people know what is going on would have to be urgently reviewed.
“There were texts and calls flying all over the place. It was too long before people knew what the nature of this cloud was, whether they should stay indoors, close windows or what to do”.
“Thankfully, such incidents are few and far between but we have a number of chemical plants near the town and we have a large population as well as a large workforce. It’s all very well to say we use Clare FM but not everyone listens to the radio all the time. We need an effective means of communicating when there is an emergency, what the nature of the emergency is and it must be done in a way that people will know what to do instead of causing panic”, she explained.
