Cork councillors have been briefed by Environment Minister John Gormley on the preliminary findings of a report into toxic waste at Haulbowline.
Angry scenes erupted in Cobh's Town Hall during Mr Gormley's meeting on the report carried out by consultants into the risks posed by waste on the former Irish Ispat site.
Local Mayor John Mulvihill had to plead with his father, county councillor John Mulvihill Snr, to let Mr Gormley speak.
Mr Mulvihill Snr accused the minister of being a 'disgrace' and told him to resign his position. He also accused Mr Gormley of not taking the health concerns of people seriously.
However, his son was forced to intervene asking his father to sit down and allow the minister answer questions from other councillors.
On his way into the meeting, Minister Gormley said preliminary findings indicate that the site does not pose a health hazard and people do not have cause for concern.
However, the report will not be complete until the end of the month and will then have to be peer assessed.
Last June, the minister promised a full report into the health risks of over 500,000 tonnes of toxic material on the island and his plans for a clean-up.
It followed claims by a sub-contractor involved in site clearance work that his company had found chromium 6 on the site.
Local councillors were angry that Mr Gormley had not met with them directly since concerns about the site first came to light.
In the decade before the steel plant closed in 2001, more than 500,000 tonnes of hazardous waste was dumped there.
