Calls for emergency climate meeting in Tipperary over water quality concerns
Nenagh MD councillors stressed the urgency at their June district meeting
Following the publication of a recent report by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which ranked the Clareen River in Nenagh among the three worst rivers in Ireland for water quality, the issues of water quality and wastewater treatment were among the first raised by councillors at the June meeting of Nenagh Municipal District.
Cllr Seamie Morris called back to the previous district meeting, in which he put forward a motion asking that the council arrange to have a meeting with a number of environmental stakeholders and experts to discuss how to tackle local water quality, the recent review from the EPA put forward a new urgency to these calls and Cllr Morris asked that the council now urgently call for a wider meeting involving all stakeholders connected to Lough Derg:
"We had a proposal at the last meeting that we would call a meeting with environmental groups, and I think we should extend that to anyone who has dealings with Lough Derg," he said.
"Since the last meeting, we've seen the Clareen River deemed to be in a bad state and the Nenagh River is in a bad state. To be honest, we're facing a climate crisis here in Nenagh with our rivers, and we're not being helped by Uisce Éireann."
He continued: "They have 505 wastewater licences and 118 of them are in breach. That's 25% because of operational failures. It's incredible for a company that's supposed to protect our waterways. Some of these treatment plants are in operational failure because of poor management and an inability to run them properly.
"There's only one wastewater treatment plant in Tipperary with tertiary phosphate treatment, and even the new Ballina plant doesn't have the full treatment. This is an area where we're seeing algae in the lake. That's why I'm calling for an environmental and climate crisis meeting to be held by Tipperary County Council.
"We're in big trouble and no one seems to be doing anything about it. Uisce Éireann isn't accountable to anybody and our rivers are paying the price."
Cllr Joe Hannigan said he shared those concerns.
"Uisce Éireann appeared before the Seanad yesterday and I noticed they didn't have answers to many of the basic questions and had to come back with the information later. It struck me that they weren't on top of the issues," he said.
He also questioned how sludge from wastewater treatment plants would be managed.
"We've had LAWPRO before this council on a number of occasions and its analysis suggests water quality in many of our rivers has deteriorated. We've also seen a series of algae blooms on Lough Derg.
"The treatment centre for Nenagh is based in Skehana and sludge is removed from the plant every couple of days. The amount of water being extracted at Coolbawn is minimal compared to what will be extracted at Birdhill when that scheme comes into operation.
"At the Seanad hearing, Uisce Éireann said the sludge from that plant would be taken off-site. My question is: where will it go and how will it be dealt with? The volume of sludge is going to be significant and it will affect the wider municipal district."