By Brian Houlihan

Haulbowline Island

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Off the coast of Ireland in the Cork Harbour sits an island called Haulbowline. The island is the current headquarters of the Irish Naval Service. The eastern side of the island was once used for heavy industry, notably Irish Steel. The island was also home to the first yacht club in the world which was established in 1720.

In more recent years Haulbowline Island has come to the public’s attention due to the concerns of local residents. Irish Steel was based on the island between 1938 and 2002 and during that period almost 500,000 tones of waste was buried or stored at the site. Among the waste and toxic pools are deadly chemicals, including Chromium 6, which have contaminated the soil on the island.

Anyone familiar with the work of Erin Brockovich will know of Chromium 6 and the health concerns attached to it.

Currently plans are afoot to clean up the island and to rejuvenate it as a public amenity. 18 months ago it was announced €61 million would be made available by government to assist with the cleanup operation. To date just over €9 million has been spent on the project.

Cork County Council are working on the cleanup with Michael Creed TD, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine. The clean up plans include: capping the toxic East Tip site, the demolition of the former Irish Steel buildings and the creation of a new public park and playing pitch.

Irish Steel workers on their way into the Haulbowline plant

So how could hemp help with such a project?

Hemp and other plants have the ability to remove contaminants from the soil using a process known as phytoremediation. This process has been widely studied and some research can be found in the International Journal of Phytoremediation, on JSTOR, Academia.edu and elsewhere.

Hemp was used in Chernobyl following its nuclear disaster. In 1998 a group which included Ukraine’s Institute of Bast Crops planted hemp near the Chernobyl site in order to remove soil contaminants from the area. In 2009 it was reported that Belarusian scientists were working with scientists from Belfast to use hemp to clean soil near Chernobyl and turn the end product into bio fuel.

So could hemp help Haulbowline island? Theoretically yes, but as the plans have largely been finalised perhaps it is too late.

However, I have decided to contact Minister Michael Creed, the EPA and other relevant agencies to find out if hemp could still play a role. I will also highlight potential use of hemp at other locations around the country with contaminated soil. I will keep you all informed of any responses I get.

Hemp’s potential use in phytoremediation is something we at the Irish Hemp Society will consider. Alongside helping to clean soil in Ireland there is also the potential for universities to study this (and other) aspect of hemp.

Brian Houlihan is the curator of the Dublin Hemp Museum and regularly writes about hemp. Follow him on Twitter at @dubhempmuseum and@houlihanbrian. You can also find the museum on Facebook.

You can find an archive of my blog posts here