Sewage tanks emptied daily in Ballycommon

The Waste Water Treatment plant in Ballycommon, which has been adding significantly to the pollution of the Nenagh River, is now being emptied of its raw sewage seven days a week by a private company at huge expense, Cllr Seamus Morris said in a statement to this newspaper.

Last weekend Uisce Éireann confirmed to Cllr Morris that North Tipperary County Council issued a Section 4 Discharge Authorisation for the discharge from the Ballycommon plant to the Nenagh River in February 2008. He said he is still trying to acertain if the discharge pipe to the river was licensed by the Environment Protection Agency. In an email sent to the Tipperary Co Council on Tuesday, he said  he had sent in several questions since February to the local authority about the pipe and most had remained unanswered, and he was now demanding “quick” answers.

“I had given notice of these questions at the last two [Nenagh] Municipal meetings,” he said.

Cllr Morris has demanded to know who gave permission for this pipe and when and what were the conditions; has it been licensed by the EPA, and what action did the council take as a result of a complaint it received from the Ormond Anglers in relation to discharges into the river.

The latest news comes after the Independent councillor put in a query to Uisce Éireann in early May, stating at that time it was his impression that the rate of emptying of sewage from tanks at the plant had been reduced. He called on the company for a “detailed works programme” to avoid such discharges.

He said these discharges were “poisoning” the Nenagh River.

In April Uisce Éireann informed Cllr Morris that it had engaged a contractor and had made some immediate improvements and repairs to the plant.

It said these works were expected to improve the plant performance, but added that further significant works will be required.

“While further works are being scheduled, our operations team are arranging for some tanks to be emptied …This is to remove plastic debris and also to help restore performance,” the company stated.

It said the plant operation would be closely monitored “to ensure that it is improving to the required levels and that progress is not lost due “to recent vandalism and blocking of the outfall pipe.”

EPA VISIT

However, following this commitment, Cllr Morris said staff from the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) subsequently visited the plant on foot of a complaint by the Ormond Anglers Association of raw sewerage from the facility entering the river. He said efforts to resolve problems with the plant clearly had not been successful and runoffs into the river had persisted.

Cllr Morris said that following the visit by the EPA staff, who had viewed the site where the runoff was occurring, the agency had ordered Uisce Éireann to turn off the outflow pipe running to the river until a resolution could be found.

“It is unknown the damage the pollution has caused to fish in the Nenagh River, but I want to thank the Ormond Anglers and local landowners for keeping me informed of this all the way through up to now,” said Cllr Morris. Uisce Éireann has confirmed, following queries form Cllr Morris, that it took over the privately developed plant in 2021. “Since then, we have carried out regular maintenance works at the plant to improve its performance. This includes regular desludging and removal of material from site to prevent overflows to the river. We have committed to carry out further upgrades at the plant and have engaged with the original suppliers of the system in recent weeks which has led to some immediate improvements and repairs to the Ballycommon WWTP.”

It said improvement works were carried out in May “with our partners in Tipperary County Council”. This work included emptying tanks and removing plastic debris to help restore the performance of the plant. “The operation of the plant will continue to be closely monitored over the coming weeks to ensure that it is improving to the required levels.”

Uisce Éireann said local authorities are responsible for the monitoring and managing of river waters. It said its role was to operate and manage wastewater infrastructure so it does not negatively impact on receiving waters.

“Since its establishment, Uisce Éireann has made big strides in improving urban wastewater treatment across Ireland, including upgrading existing treatment plants and wastewater networks, and building infrastructure where none existed previously. Overall the standard of wastewater treatment in Ireland continues to improve as a result of Uisce Éireann investment,” the company stated.