Fears over pesticide contamination of the Feale

Anglers raise fears over ‘persistent’ pesticide failures recorded by EPA at treatment plants on the River Feale

‘PERSISTENT’ pesticide failures at the Abbeyfeale and Listowel water treatment plants in 2017 are not being adequately addressed, anglers on the river that runs through both towns warned this week.

They say they are unable to get answers from the agencies governing drinking water supply as to the current state of the quality of the Feale water.

Irish Water informed 20,000 West Limerick households last year that their drinking water supply was contaminated by pesticides.

But the contamination did not respresent a risk to public health, Irish Water assured.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) revealed in June last that half of the Irish drinking water supplies where persistent pesticide failures were identified in 2017 were on the Feale – Listowel and Abbeyfeale – in the Drinking Water Report for Public Supplies 2017.

The report clearly set out as a priority for drinking water supplies that: ‘Pesticides should not be present in drinking water sources.’

The EPA issued a direction on the Listowel Regional plant at Scartlea outside the town on May 15 of 2017.

It found the Listowel plant was compliant by the end of ‘17.

The Abbeyfeale plant was the subject of a persistent pesticide failure direction on November 14. It has until December of this year to achieve compliance, as set out in the EPA’s ‘remedial action list’ for the third quarter of 2018.

In the meantime, anglers say they are getting no assurances as to the steps now being taken to ensure a pesticide-free Feale.

The pesticide elevation is due to the use of the MCPA herbicide in treating rushes on marshy land in the Feale watershed.

Now, anglers on the famous river are demanding that State agencies responsible for the river answer their urgent questions as to what is being done to tackle the contamination.

Mountcollins/Brosna Anglers’ Association PRO Brendan Danaher said he and his colleagues are blue in the face trying to get answers on the current state of the Feale drinking water source – with human health their main concern.

“We’re ten weeks trying to get answers,” he said.

“There is little public awareness of the issue, there’s no sign of a public meeting and we’re not even aware if the National Pesticide and Drinking Water Action Group has met to put a plan in place,” Mr Danaher added.

Ministers Brendan Griffin and Patrick O’Donovan represented anglers’ concerns recently but failed to elicit an update of the situation from Irish Water.

“The EPA report for 2017 was published in June 2018. So now we won’t find out about the cur- rent state until June of this year. The thing that surprises me the most is the total silence on this. Why are they seemingly unable to answer simple questions? Is the river still testing positive or not? This is a serious public health issue,” Mr Danaher warned.

Irish Water had not responded to a query by The Kerry man by the time of print. Kerry County Council said to contact Irish Water on the issue, and there was no response from Limerick County Council by time of print, either.

Photos by Domnick Walsh PRO of the Mountcollins-Brosna Anglers’ Association Brendan Danaher raising a glass of Feale water, highlighting the current concerns and, below,one of the treatment plants referenced in the EPA’s audit – Abbeyfeale.