Treatment plant plan in final stages
A report by the county engineer dated February 2021, has reassured councillors that the proposed works to upgrade Mitchelstown waste water treatment plant (WWTP) are in the final stages of preparation.
While the scheme is included in the current Irish Water (IW) Capital Investment Plan (RC3) 2020-2024, no timeline has been given as to when work might commence.
The report by County Engineer Kevin Morey, obtained by Cllr Frank O’Flynn who is calling on IW ‘ to expedite the plan’, said that the project would be progressed through a programme which will quicken the pace of selecting a contractor. The report reads as follows:
“An upgrade of Mitchelstown WWTP is included in the current IW Capital Investment Plan (RC3) 2020-2024. The planned upgrade will provide for the existing domestic and non-domestic load with provision for growth in accordance with National Planning Framework guidelines with an additional 10% headroom and provision for existing licensed industry.
“Irish Water’s Source Control section is to enforce the existing discharge licence requirements at industrial connections to reduce the actual PEs at the plant by ensuring that all discharges are compliant.
“IW have decided to progress this project through the Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) procurement method. Currently the Project is with Irish Water’s Asset Planning Department where it is undergoing scope and contractor’s brief preparation for award to the chosen ECI Contractor,” the report stated.
In a statement to The Avondhu this week, Cllr O’Flynn said that he was calling on Irish Water to expedite the project.
“Mitchelstown is the forgotten town, development is sitting in limbo. We need this to be dealt with rapidly. As long as we cannot build houses in this day and age, the town will die.
“The planning applications are on hold. Mitchelstown needs help and it needs housing, we have waited for far too long. I have called on Irish Water and the Minister for Housing Daragh O’Brien to put the funding in place,” he said.
TRICKLING FILTERS
In November, 2020 The Avondhu carried out an investigation into the reasons for the delay in the programme.
In documents obtained by this newspaper, it was shown that the delay was caused by the need for new equipment which was not in the original plan.
In the documents, a problem associated with Trickling Filters (TFs) was to blame for the delayed construction work which has met with condemnation from councillors in North Cork.
The outrage from local representatives emanates from the fact that there can be no major new housing developments in Mitchelstown.
The documents, in a Freedom of Information Act trawl, show a clear timeline as managers in Irish Water try to work through the problem from early 2019 to 2020.
Consistently throughout, email correspondence shows there was a clear concern about negative media coverage and repeated contacts from local councillors and TDs.
Our investigation found that between January and May 2019 it was believed that the existing TFs could be refurbished and renewed, this meant no planning permission was required. However, in August 2019 it was determined, by technical experts, that ‘refurbishment would not be achievable’ because of a problem associated with meeting Emission Limit Value for ammonia with the current TFs.
- See more Pages 9-11 on the Mitchelstown WWTP