AgriLand has been informed that there has been an incident at the Boortmalt site in Athy, Co. Kildare. No one has been injured in the incident.
It is understood that a steep, used in the malting process, collapsed. The steep in question is thought to be the Nordon upper steep house which was erected in the early 1990s.
In a statement, the company said: “Boortmalt can confirm that there was an incident at its malting facility in Athy, Co. Kildare, earlier today.
“At approximately 4:00pm on Tuesday, July 30, a building on the site suffered a partial collapse. Thankfully, no member of staff was injured.
“The reasons for the collapse are unknown at this stage.”
The statement went on to highlight that: “Safety is our main priority, we have secured the affected building in line with approved Health and Safety protocols, and commenced a comprehensive investigation into the incident.
“A further update will be provided when available.”
Recent expansion announcement
AgriLand visited Boortmalt just two weeks ago when the company announced the expansion of its plant from a malting production capacity of 100,000t to 140,000t.
The planned expansion is to result in an increase in the area of the crop grown and the number of contracts available to farmers.
Malt has been produced at The Maltings site in Athy for over 170 years and the plant has seen significant development in its history.