County Council not at fault for M/Town odour
A COUNCIL official has conceded it would be “impossible” to prevent a re-occurrence of a recent incident in Mitchelstown when powerful odours forced the temporary closure some town centre businesses.
The smell, which lasted for a number of hours and was variously described as “unbearable” and “sickening”, forced traders to close their doors as it permeated through their premises and overwhelmed staff and customers.
The traders subsequently contacted council officials and local public representatives seeking an explanation for the noxious odour and an assurance that it would not happen.
That call was reiterated in a motion before this week’s November meeting of the council’s Northern Area committee, asking what measures the authority would be taking to make sure that it does not happen again.
In response, council official Pat Walsh said the situation arose as the result of a leakage of home heating oil from a private property, situated on the grounds of the local Catholic Church, into an adjacent surface water pipe.
“Unfortunately, this got into sewage system and made its way into the local waste water treatment plant. In turn, this created the desperate smells and odours that proved to be so inconvenient to some local businesses,” said Mr Walsh.
He reassured councillors that the authority and Irish Water “did all they possibly could” to find the source of the smell and it was only after exhaustive investigations that it was traced back to the private property in question.
“The motion today is asking what, if any, controls could be put in place to prevent this happening again in the future. The answer is that it is impossible, as the leak originated on private property,” said Mr Walsh.
“The bottom line was that this was not our fault. All we could do was react to the problem and trace it back to the source,” he added.
Committee chair, Cllr June Murphy, was quick to praise council officials and staff for tracing the leak.
“This alone was a mammoth task and they are to be complimented for their swift action,” she said.
Cllr Timmy Collins (Ind) agreed, saying the situation reminded him of when slurry leaks found their way into local rivers and waterways.
“The council could not control these either, because they do not know beforehand when and where they are going to happen ,” he said.