PRESS RELEASE
Galway County Council fined for pollution in Athenry
13 November 2009
At Ennis District Court on Monday last, Judge Aeneas McCarthy imposed fines of €800, and awarded €5,312.37 technical expenses and €3,200 legal costs against Galway Co. Council for breaches of the Fisheries Acts resulting from pollution from the sewage treatment works in Athenry. The offence dated back to 26th July 2006 and related to discharges to the Clarin River from the Council’s Sewage Treatment Plant at Athenry Co. Galway. Details of the case had been previously heard at Athenry District Court on the 8th May 2007 but Judge Aeneas McCarthy adjourned the matter to allow the Co. Council time to rectify matters before deciding on penalty. Mr. Diorai Ford solicitor for the Western Regional Fisheries Board told the Court that following a number of adjournments during the intervening three years, the Co. Council had implemented phase 1 emergency works and phase 2 expansion works at the site in Athenry. He stated that the Fisheries Board was now satisfied that the improvements would satisfy current demands.
Ms. Vivian Raine Solicitor for Galway County Council told the Court that over €1M Euro had been invested in improvement works and that the expanded plant with a design capacity in excess of 9,500 population equivalent was capable of meeting present requirements.
The Clarin River supports populations of salmon, brown trout, freshwater crayfish, eel, and lamprey but the zone from Athenry to Clarinbridge had been seriously impaired as a result of the old out dated plant. At the time of the original offence, the Clarin River had been grossly polluted as a result of the cumulative impact of this discharge and the discharge that occurred as a result of a pump malfunction at Caheroyan, Athenry on the 19th July 2006. The latter incident was subsequently the subject of separate legal proceedings. The river is now beginning to show early signs of recovery with river dissolved oxygen levels of 58% per cent saturation recorded during summer 2009 compared with a lows of 8% saturation in July 2006. Ideally salmonid fish require oxygen levels in excess of 70% saturation. It is hoped that all components of the expanded works will be fully commissioned shortly and that the Co. Council will continue to optimize treatment efficiency and fully commit to maintaining the plant so as to ensure that strict emission limit values are continuously attained. Because of the very low summer flows that are a feature of the Clarin River, this will be essential.
Responding to the case Dr. Greg Forde C.E.O of the Fisheries Board stated that the challenge going forward will be to meet the long term needs of Athenry, as the treatment plant discharges into a river that at times has very low water levels. He added that the requirements of the Water Framework Directive that requires that waters should be restored to good status by end of 2015 and the Clarin river was no exception. The Fisheries Board will continue to monitor the works at Athenry into the future particularly in low flow conditions.