EPA orders Uisce Éireann to shut down Ballycommon waste water treatment pipe over outflows

The Environmental Protection Agency has ordered Uisce Éireann to shut down a controversial outflow pipe from Ballycommon waste water treatment plant that discharges into the Nenagh River.

The pipe has caused concerns to be raised by local angling club Ormond Anglers over possible damage to fish and wildlife along the river.

The EPA visited the site last Wednesday and ordered that it be shut down the following day.

The plant had also been visited by Uisce Éireann and Kingspan, who provided the plant, to come up with a resolution to the fact that the plant wasn’t working properly.

In a statement to the Tipperary Star, the EPA said: “This plant does not have an authorisation in place from the EPA. We inspected the plant, a pump station and the discharge point into the Nenagh River.

“Our inspectors took samples upstream, downstream and of the discharge and these will be analysed by the Kilkenny Laboratory.

“The EPA have concerns about the operation and functioning of the plant. A report will be prepared and provided to Uisce Éireann. On Friday morning last, May 26, Uisce Éireann confirmed that the effluent from the plant will be tankered until they have addressed these operational issues with the plant.

“The EPA’s Licensing Team have written to Uisce Éireann about their requirement to apply for an authorisation for this plant which we were informed they took over in December 2021.

Uisce Éireann said in a statement that since taking over the plant in 2021, they had carried out regular maintenance works to improve its performance.

“Uisce Éireann has committed to carry out further upgrades at the plant and have recently engaged with the original suppliers of the system at Ballycommon WWTP,” they said.

They said that the original suppliers will return in the coming weeks for further examinations which will include inspections of the condition of the internal compartments of the unit including the aeration diffusers and pipework to seek to improve its performance.

“While examinations are taking place, Uisce Éireann and its partners in Tipperary County Council will tanker wastewater to Nenagh Wastewater Treatment Plant where it will be treated to the correct standard,” they said.

The issue has been raised on a regular basis over the past number of months by Cllr Seamus Morris, who has been in touch with the EPA, Uisce Éireann and Tipperary County Council on the issues surrounding the workings of the plant.

“It is unknown the damage the pollution has caused to fish in the Nenagh River but I want to thank the Ormond Anglers and local landowners for keeping me informed of this,” said Cllr Seamus Morris.