The village of Ballymore Eustace, Co. Kildare, where the River Liffey flows, was once “one of the best salmon spawning grounds” on the whole river, according to long-time fisherman Tommy Deegan.
“When I was a student, we would go down and try to catch salmon by hand. We weren’t very good at it, but that’s what happens when they spawn in shallow water.” he said. Pay attention to.
As honorary secretary of the Ballymore Eustace Trout and Salmon Fishing Association, Mr Deegan has worked for decades to strengthen regulation and enforcement of the Ballymore Eustace Water Treatment Plant in Uis Eirei, located a few hundred meters from the village. I’ve been fighting.
This is the largest water treatment scheme in the country, supplying water to approximately 50% of the population of Dublin City and Greater Dublin Area, but due to the peculiarities of planning regulations, Kildare County Council is the only authority to oversee the plant.
A report carried out by Uis Alien on the recommendation of fishermen found that aluminum from the factory had settled in the bed of the River Liffey upstream of the Ballymore Eustace Bridge.
The environmental scientists behind these reports said: Pay attention to These chemicals “sink to the bottom of river beds, clogging rivers” and damaging marine habitats.
Tommy Deegan of the Ballymore, Eustace, Trout and Salmon Anglers Association has been fighting for stricter regulations for decades. Nile Sargent / Notable
Nile Sargent / Remarkable / Remarkable
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“Lack of action” on discharge
Kildare County Council first became the regulator in 2008 when Mr Deegan and his fishing friends submitted a proposal to An Bord Pleanála for a new treatment plant.
In 2009, An Bord Pleanála granted planning permission to Ballymore Eustace for a new sludge treatment plant.
This was in addition to the conditions requested by anglers and imposed by An Bor Pleanála, which required Uis Éireann not to exceed certain limits on the amount of chemicals released into the river.
However, last year the council found the power station had breached regulations regarding discharges into the River Liffey on several occasions.
The company contacted Uis Alien in September asking for a report on how it planned to improve the factory’s systems, but was still waiting for a response as of December.
For Mr. Deegan, he feels strongly that many government agencies do not provide the necessary level of oversight to factories, and this is a source of great frustration.
A former ESB engineer, he claims that the flow is not strong enough and as a result cannot dilute the nutrient-rich substances from the plants.
He claimed it meant “massacreing the River Liffey” in this part of County Kildare.
But Deegan said the concerns go back further.
He produced a correspondence from 2019 to 2022 expressing dissatisfaction with the anglers’ association’s monitoring of the plant.
In May 2019, it expressed concern at Kildare County Council’s “appearing lack of action” regarding the Ballymore Eustace nuclear discharge into the River Liffey.
Then, in late 2022, Deegan emailed the city council to accuse the city council of “turning a blind eye” to the plant’s wastewater, and also accused the plant of “turning a blind eye” to the plant’s maximum daily spillway flow. He claimed that he had committed “routine violations.” facility. This is a structure designed to ‘spill’ water from the plants into the River Liffey.
The maximum amount allowed is 3,697 cubic meters, but from October to December last year (2022) this was recorded to be in the range of 10,900 cubic meters to 12,500 cubic meters, which is the maximum daily spillway volume. It is a multiple of volume.
Neither the city council nor the factory responded directly to inquiries about this, and the prefectural council insisted that it was constantly monitoring the factory.
Whis Alien said Pay attention to Measures have been taken to meet the planning conditions. It said this would include “optimizing” the chemical and physical treatment processes on site to “improve the quality of treated water discharged” into the River Liffey.
“This is an ongoing process,” the company said.
The treatment plant is located right next to the River Liffey. Google Maps Pro
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Trying to force a “just for now” plan
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) monitors drinking water treatment functions, but the plant’s discharges into the River Liffey are outside the scope of the watchdog.
Mr Deegan said the council had “written to Irish Water twice this year saying they needed to demonstrate how they were going to comply, but the planning requirements go back that far, going back to 2008.” said.
“It’s only now that they’re really trying to enforce planning regulations.”
During the discharge process, Uisce Éireann says each of the plant’s 38 filters is backwashed or cleaned every 30 to 48 hours. The spillway directs the undertow downstream into Ballymore Eustace.
Pay attention to During a site visit, the water was observed to turn gray as this process occurred.
According to Uisce Éireann, the backwash water will then be further treated to remove particulate matter before being released into the River Liffey.
“Originally local governments did not seem to require permits to discharge water from treatment plants, so there was little oversight in the ’80s,” Deegan added.
“When they first started operating here, what they were pumping back then was between 5 million and 20 million gallons a day, and now they’re up to 70 million gallons a day.Dublin Water The demand is very high.”
The effects of these chemicals and waste on the Ballymore Eustace riverbed make it difficult for fish to spawn.
Dr Martin McGarrigle made this clear in his report into the power station and its impact on the river, which he carried out in 2018 after consultation with Uis Eireen and the Angling Association. did.
His environmental consultancy firm was commissioned by Uys Alien to carry out an investigation and assessment of the situation on the River Liffey.
Near Ballymore Eustace based on reports from Deegan and fishing buddies.
Ballymore Bridge in the village of County Kildare, just downstream from the Uisce Éireann factory. Nile Sargent / Notable
Nile Sargent / Remarkable / Remarkable
The report looked at the nearby Blessington wastewater treatment facility, Lake Golden Falls, the Liffey River at Ballymore-Eustace and the Ballymore-Eustace plant.
An initial investigation carried out in 2017 showed there were “large deposits of a white substance clearly emanating” from the Ballymore Eustace factory.
“These may result from active sludge treatment processes and/or erosion of old sediment from sludge lagoons,” McGarrigle wrote at the time.
Mr McGarrigle said Uis Alien was trying to change that system after publishing research showing high levels of aluminum in the river. In recent weeks, he said: Pay attention to He said he conducted a follow-up investigation in 2018.
“They’ve actually significantly reduced the amount of these substances coming out and improved the situation. If you go back 30 years, what’s happening now is nothing compared to what it was like in the 1980s and before. you can’t.”
However, recent monitoring results prepared by the plant and submitted to the county council have once again raised concerns about the plant.
Asked about the consequences of the county council’s oversight, Mr McGarrigle said: “If we are currently in breach of regulations then clearly we need to go further again.”
Water pollution prosecution
Pay attention to Yesterday, we reported that the plant continues to have problems. In 2023, it violated regulations multiple times.
In addition, Uis Alien was indicted last summer on water pollution charges related to wastewater from the factory.
The case began in June 2022 when Ms Deegan’s son Stephen was walking his dog along the River Liffey in Ballymore Eustace when he thought he smelled chlorine and bleach. He soon discovered a series of dead fish.
“I think he ended up being wiser about it than he would have been otherwise, because he heard me talk about it all the time over the years,” Deegan said. said.
My intuition was proven correct. Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) was alerted, investigated and ultimately prosecuted Uis Alien at Naas District Court. The company was fined €5,000 and ordered to pay a further €5,500 in costs and expenses.
Huishe Alien was fined €5,000 and ordered to pay €5,500 in costs and costs in July 2022 for water pollution offences. Nile Sargent / Notable
Nile Sargent / Remarkable / Remarkable
Whis Alien spoke Pay attention to The company announced that the June 2022 accident caused the factory’s disinfection system to “malfunction,” leading to a spill of waste fluid.
The factory said that in light of the court case, it has modernized and improved its water treatment processes and begun renovations to “ensure that raw water continues to be treated to meet water quality standards” as required by EU regulations.
When contacted, the IFI said it had committed resources in recent years to “assess and address the potential risks to fish populations posed by effluents from the Ballymore Eustace Water Treatment Plant”.
“IFI has received numerous communications from stakeholders regarding water quality in the region in recent years.
The agency said: “The agency is involved in a number of ongoing ecological monitoring programs and studies in the Ballymore-Eustace region,” and currently aims to “maximize the sustainability” of all fish and , added that it was cooperating with efforts in the Liffey basin. their habitat.
The agency also pointed to a large-scale Liffey River basin fish stock survey conducted in July 2021.
It said the section of the Liffey River just downstream of the outfall from the Ballymore Eustace water treatment plant featured “low numbers” of brown trout and salmon, but that populations of these fish “were It has improved.”
“The Agency continues to monitor the situation in the region and is working with all stakeholders to protect, conserve and manage inland fish populations in the most sustainable way possible.”IFI said.
Kildare County Council said: Pay attention to It said it would continue to await a report on how Uisce Éireann plans to resolve the issues highlighted.
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