Report by EFA calls for works to protect shellfish waters in Drumcliffe Bay
IMPROVEMENTS are needed to protect shellfish waters in Drumcliffe Bay, the Environmental Protection Agency has warned in its annual report on Urban Waste Water Treatment in 2021 which was published last week.
In a section on shellfish the report outlines that assessments required for 24 shellfish waters have still not been completed and “are long overdue”.
Specifically in relation to Drumcliffe Bay the report adds: “Furthermore, some of the assessments that have already been completed found that improvements are needed to protect shellfish waters, but Irish Water has not provided a clear plan and time frame to carry out the improvements.
“These assessments were for the shellfish waters of Donegal Bay, Drumcliffe Bay, Dungarvan Harbour and Killary Harbour.”
The report states that Irish Water has a significant amount of work to do to meet its obligations in relation to shellfish waters.
In relation to Drumcliffe Bay and other outstanding impact assessments, it says these must be completed as soon as possible, and action plans to resolve any risks identified from the assessments should be put in place and delivered in a timely manner.
“Based on the current rate of progress, this work will not be finished by 2024 and Irish Water should allocate sufficient funding and resources in its investment plan 2025 to 2029 to complete all this work and make sure that waste water discharges do not adversely impact on shellfish waters,” the report adds.
The report also revealed how a waste water treatment in Ballymote failed to meet the treatment standards in 2021 despite having the necessary treatment infrastructure and meeting the standards in 2020.
Treatment at what were described as 12 large urban areas which included Ballymote in that last list of 12 centres did not meet the standards in the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive in 2021.
Ballymote, according to the report, failed the secondary treatment standards. The report stated: “Three towns served by plants that have the capacity to meet the treatment standards, and met these standards in 2020, failed in 2021. The towns are Clonakilty and Kinsale in Cork and Ballymote in Sligo.
“These failures highlight the need for improved vigilance and oversight by Irish Water to make sure plants always perform at their optimum.
“Complying with the Directive’s standards is vital to protect our environment, but also to reduce the risk of fines from the Court of Justice of the European Union.
While concerns relating to Drumcliffe bay and Ballymote were raised in the report, a success story at Collooney treatment works was also highlighted by the report authors who offered a case study in how to protect a river from pollution in Collooney. According to the report, the old waste water treatment plant serving Collooney in County Sligo was designed and built for a time when the town was smaller and the volume of waste water to be treated was much less than it is today.
As the town developed and grew the plant could not treat the town’s sewage to the standard needed to protect the local river. Consequently, effluent discharged from the old treatment plant was contributing to pollution of the Owenmore River.
The EPA identified Collooney as a national priority area and they required Irish Water to improve treatment to protect the river and prevent pollution. Irish Water completed a major infrastructural upgrade of the treatment plant in 2021. The plant is now treating waste water to a much higher standard than before and releasing much cleaner effluent back into the river. Waste water is no longer a significant pollution pressure on the Owenmore River as a result of these improvements and the EPA removed Collooney from their list of priority areas in 2022.
The report adds: “There has been a significant and much-needed reduction in ammonia released into the river following the completion of the upgrade works.
“High concentrations of ammonia can harm the ecological health of a river and ammonia is toxic to some aquatic life.”
The report generated national headlines in relation to 32 areas which were found to be releasing raw sewage into the environment in mid-2022 because the public sewers are not connected to treatment plants. None of those 32 areas were in Sligo, but one in Kilcar, Co. Donegal, has an impact on Sligo’s shared coastline as part of Donegal Bay.
Those 32 areas, the report states: “Discharge enough sewage to fill three Olympic-size swimming pools every day.”
The number of towns and villages discharging raw sewage on a daily basis has reduced by two during the past year and by 18 since 2014. The two areas connected to treatment plants in the past year are Castletownbere and Cobh in County Cork.
Only half of Ireland’s sewage was treated to EU environmental standards in 2021, below the EU average of 90 per cent, according to the latest Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) report on urban wastewater treatment.