Lime leak leads to fish kill in the Vartry
A FAULTY pump at the Vartry Reservoir Treatment Plant was responsible for leaking lime into the Vartry River which resulted in a number of fish kills on Tuesday, February 21.
The contamination was contained to a 500 metre stretch of the river.
In a statement, Irish Water said they were working alongside Wicklow County Council and Dublin City Council to establish in what circumstances lime leaked into the river.
‘As soon as the issue was identified, the flow of lime to the river was stopped and work commenced to remove the lime from the river.
‘Investigations are ongoing and Irish Water wishes to reassure the public that it is committed to putting measures in place in the event it transpires that there is any risk of a similar incident occurring in the future.
‘Irish Water is working closely with the IFI and the EPA in relation to this matter,’ said the statement.
A complaint about the dead fish was made at around 2.30 p.m. last Tuesday and Inland Fisheries Ireland were soon on the scene taking samples.
The majority of the fish killed were juvenile and small trout.
‘ Thankfully, this kill does not seem to be of the magnitude of the kill that occurred in 2012, which devastated the system and took five years to recover from,’ said Cllr Jennifer Whitmore. ‘ The important thing was to determine the cause of the kill to ensure that it doesn’t happen again. Inland Fisheries Ireland were quick to arrive and take samples and this information will assist in a thorough investigation of the matter.’
‘I believe that this kill has brought back into focus the fragility of this important river system, which is one of only 22 EU designated salmon rivers in Ireland.
‘ This is particularly pertinent at the moment as proposed plans by Irish Water to upgrade the reservoir, which will reduce the flow into the Vartry by up to 66 per cent, are currently before An Bord Pleanala. Unfortunately, Irish Water have not undertaken an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) as part of this proposal,’ added Cllr Whitmore.
In June of 2012, thousands of fish were killed in the River Vartry after a discharge polluted a 9km stretch of water. Despite investigations by Inland Fisheries Ireland, Dublin City Council and Wicklow County Council, there was no prosecution in this instance.
John Wilding of the Vartry Anglers Conservations Club said the river had only just begun recovering from the 2012 incident when the latest case of pollution took place.
‘ The latest kill was spotted early and thankfully didn’t cover the whole river, like it did in 2012,’ said Mr Wilding
‘We are a catch and release club who are trying to get the river back to what it was 20 years ago. We laid spawning beds and stopped poaching, and incidents like this are a setback.
‘ The last kill went all the way from the top of the river down to the harbour.
‘Water samples were taken and investigation was carried out, yet there was no prosecution, which was very disappointing.’