Notable case, Cobh (Cork Harbour), County Cork, Ireland
Haulbowline Island (former Irish Steel)
Inis Sionnach
An island in Cork Harbour where the Irish Steel works ran from 1939 to 2001. The slag, piled up on the east side, enlarged the island by a third and left hexavalent chromium in the ground.
At a glance
- Status
- Remediated
- Area
- 9 ha on land1
- Activity
- 1939–2001
- Media
- soil, groundwater, sediment
- Kind of site
- steel, landfill
- Area. Area of the East Tip, the slag dump (about 22 acres).
Contaminants
Status
Remediated
Work to make the East Tip safe was partly completed by the end of 2018 and the area opened as a public park in January 2021. The cost, estimated at 40 million euros in 2014, had risen to at least 61 million by 2016 (Wikipedia).
Story
The Irish Steel works, later Ispat, occupied the eastern side of the island, on the site of the 1869 naval dockyard. Slag and other production waste was dumped or stored on the spot: the East Tip took the island from about 60 to over 80 acres.
After closure, radioactive contamination and hexavalent chromium remained in the soil, with concern about the health risks of the residual contaminants.
Timeline
- 1939The steelworks starts up.
- 2001Closure.
- 2018Work on the East Tip is partly completed.
- 2021January: the public park opens.
Remediation
- 2018site remediation and parkEast Tip made safe and turned into a public park.
From the literature
Species that acted on one of this site's contaminants in at least one study. The list is automatic and takes no account of this site's soil, concentrations or climate.
Plants
- Azolla carolinianaCarolina mosquito fernEvidence: laboratory
- Eichhornia crassipesWater hyacinthEvidence: laboratory
Fungi
- Cladosporium sphaerospermumRadionuclides (mixed)Evidence: laboratory
- Rhodotorula taiwanensisRadionuclides (mixed)Evidence: laboratory
Nearby
Sources
- Haulbowline, Wikipedia, 2026
Draft compiled from public sources, not yet reviewed.