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ICMSA hits out at the ‘jaw dropping’ sewage hypocrisy

Donal O'Regan, 3 Nov

ICMSA president Pat McCormack has described as “jaw-dropping” the media

reports of the EPA identifying 26 towns and villages that are not

connected at all to any wastewater treatment with raw sewage volumes

equal to 54,000 people pumped daily into waterways.

Raw sewage continues to be discharged straight into the Shannon Estuary

in Foynes and Glin.

New wastewater treatment plants and sewerage infrastructure are planned

for both villages.

Mr McCormack said that it is worth pointing out that any single farmer

in Ireland would find himself in court “for even one instance of such

gross negligence – much less an ongoing daily basis”.

The farmer leader noted that, “Yet again we were being treated to the

sight of numerous official agencies and councils failing abjectly to

carry out tasks that those very same agencies and councils were

actually prosecuting farmers and other individuals for on grounds of

alleged non-compliance”.

It was way “beyond ordinary hypocrisy and represented a double-standard

that was so jaw-dropping it was nearly in a class of its own” said Mr

McCormack.

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Council dispose of land in Limerick town for use as electric vehicle

charging point

“Every farmer in Ireland is aware – often painfully so – of their

obligations to prevent discharges like this into their local rivers and

waterways. Imagine the kind of stress that farmers in east Cork have

been experiencing over the last week when their slurry storage was

flooded, and they could have found themselves liable for run-offs into

local waterways.

“In fairness to Minister Charlie McConalogue, he clarified that

situation.

“But then we have reports that show two decent sized towns in east Cork

– Ballycotton and Whitegate - where raw sewage is being discharged

without any treatment whatsoever. Farmers have had just about enough of

this kind of nonsense and gross hypocrisy and our blunt message to the

Irish State on this is ‘Physician, heal thyself!’”

Mr McCormack continued: “Stop presuming to lecture farmers on damaging

waterways until you’ve stopped blatantly pumping untreated sewage into

them all over the country without let, hindrance or even an expression

of regret.”

“Put bluntly: if you won’t obey your own regulations then stop

lecturing farmers – or indeed anyone else - on why we have to obey

them!” said an exasperated ICMSA president.

He said that farmers are investing on a daily basis in environmental

measures and are expected to implement measures with minimum notice.

“Meanwhile, the Government is happy to give its own lavishly resourced

agencies up to 20 years to resolve their issues.

“Farm families are being wiped out through costly environmental

measures while the State protects its own agencies from any censure or

repercussion. We can’t go on having these two very different standards

of compliance,” he concluded.

The Sustainable Water Network (SWAN) has called on Uisce Éireann to

“use its new investment plan to end pollution of our rivers and coastal

waters from wastewater”.