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
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“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”.