Concern over spillage from wastewater treatment plant
A spillage of effluent, believed to be raw sewage, from the wastewater treatment plant in Ballina into a tributary of the River Shannon has angered locals, who say the plant cannot deal with the volumes of sewage generated and that a planned upgrade of the facility cannot come soon enough.
Killaloe Ballina & District Anglers Association posted a video on their Facebook page last Wednesday showing brown effluent flowing from a pipe into the Grange River close to its confluence with the Shannon below the bridge at Ballina-Killaloe.
Co-incidentially, the effluent is entering the Shannon just about 1.5 kilometres upstream from where the operators of the local treatment plant, Irish Water, plan to extract huge volumes of water as part of its €2 billion scheme to provide new supplies to Dublin and the eastern and midland regions.
In a posting on its Facebook page the angling club stated that the treatment plant had exceeded its maximum capacity on three occasions in a six-day period after Saint Patrick's Day, resulting in raw sewage entering the Shannon.
The club said the plant currently exceeds its maximum capacity by 1,400 people. It said a plan to upgrade the plant was 10 to 15 years overdue. “The sight of raw sewage being pumped into the river Shannon is not something locals or tourists want to see,” it stated, adding that the incident was “casting a dark cloud” over the area.
The club added: “All the local councillors want to make Ballina/Killaloe a great tourist attraction, but who is going to bring their family out fishing, canoeing, kayaking, swimming in Lough Derg when they can see and smell sewage being pumped into the lake. It's absolutely disgraceful.” The plant treats the wastewater from both Ballina and Killaloe.
PLANNING PERMISSION
Local councillors and TDs recently revealed that Irish Water is about to apply for planning permission to upgrade the plant, but locals are concerned that actual works are not scheduled to take place until the end of 2022 or early 2023.
“Let's hope these plans come together quickly and is not just talk,” states the club, who said the works are long overdue.
Earlier this month the Tipperary Fianna Fáil TD Jackie Cahill said Irish Water is at the advanced stages of applying for planning permission for the development of the plant.
Deputy Cahill said: “I have been working with stakeholders in the Ballina area for some time now to secure the development of the wastewater facilities in the town to increase capacity that would allow for future development of this part of Tipperary. This is a beautiful town with serious tourism and developmental potential. However, the lack of capacity in the wastewater treatment plant in Ballina has been a major hindrance to the town’s development for many years at this stage.”
OPERATIONAL ISSUES
Asked to respond to the problems with the treatment plant, Irish Water in a statement issued on Monday said the company and Tipperary County Council are working to address operational issues at the plant which it said were caused by recent heavy rainfall.
“As a result, the plant had to be reseeded in order to assist with the recovery of the treatment process. Following this the effluent quality has improved, with further improvements expected over the coming days. The plant operator is continuing to monitor the situation.”
Irish Water added: “As a long-term solution we are progressing plans to upgrade the Ballina Wastewater Treatment Plant to ensure that it complies with the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive and can support ongoing growth and development in the area. A planning application for this project is due to be submitted in April this year with a programmed construction start of Q4 2022, subject to funding and statutory approvals.
“In the interim our operations and compliance teams are working to optimise the performance of the existing treatment plant to maximise the available capacity and protect the receiving waters of the River Grange from wastewater overflows. We are also carrying out ongoing monitoring at the outflows and taking other appropriate measures to protect the aquatic environment.”
Irish Water said it continues to work at this time with its local authority partners, contractors and others to safeguard the health and well-being of both staff and the public and to ensure the continuity of critical drinking water and wastewater services.
The company said customers with queries or concerns can contact it at 1850 278 278.
This not the first time that problems with the treatment plant have come to light. In February 2019 the company was ordered to pay €4,790 in a fine and costs by Judge Patrick Durkan at Killaloe District Court after the court was told that around 100 fish were killed in the Grange River, including some brown trout and juvenile salmon, following a spillage that occured from the plant in May 2018.