This article is from page 14 of the 2008-05-06 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 14 JPG
THE Health Service Executive (HSE) has stated that the discharge of raw sewage into the River Fergus by Ennis Town Council “represents a serious public risk and should be treated with the greatest urgency”’. Correspondence released under the Freedom of Information Act by the Environmental Protection Agency outlines the number of complaints that have been made in recent times
over the pumping of raw sewage into the River Fergus from the pumping station at Francis Street.
The situation is not expected to be fully addressed until the provision of a new €75 million sewage treat- ment plant at Clareabbey to serve the greater Ennis area which will not be in place until 2012.
In one of the letters HSE Environ- mental Health Officer Fiona Healy said she witnessed the discharge of sewerage twice and on both occa-
sions, murky water spread throughout the river, leaving a layer of scum.
“IT have seen sanitary towels in the discharge and there has been a foul smell on both occasions,” she said.
Us Tee MC sc MA SULA OMEN MDAUercA bes 2006 and in a separate letter Envi- ronmental Health Officer, Brendan Mortell says the sewage overflow has been causing a nuisance for residents at this location for a number of years and should be given as high a prior- ity as possible, considering its close
proximity to dwellings.
In a letter to the HSE, Town Engi- neer, [om Tiernan said the discharge to the river following heavy rainfall was “not acceptable in this day and age. It is, however, outside the coun- cil’s control until such time as the upgrading of the station can be pro- ceeded with”.
In response the EPA serving notice, the Town Council compiled a report last October outlining the actions it had taken to minimise the problem.