‘We’re in serious danger here’ — Tipperary councillors demand action on declining river quality
Tipperary is in a “climate crisis” with the quality of the county’s rivers and lakes dropping year-on-year, a local councillor has said.
The latest report by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) showed that the Clareen River in the county is in a “bad” condition, one of only three rivers nationwide to receive this classification.
At the recent meeting of the Nenagh Municipal District, independent councillor Seamie Morris called on the local authority to host a meeting with all the stakeholders involved in protecting the county’s water quality and make plans to improve it.
“Since the last meeting, we’ve seen the Clareen River being deemed as being in a bad state, the Nenagh River is in a bad state, and we’re in a climate crisis here in terms of our rivers,” Cllr Morris said.
“There were commitments made by Tipperary County Council and LAWPRO (the local authority waters programme) to deal with the downgrading of the Nenagh River and the fact that it’s in such a poor state, but I think now it’s time that we did something.
“We’re in serious danger here,” Cllr Morris added.
Agreeing with Cllr Morris, Fine Gael councillor Phyll Bugler said that the Nenagh River had been on the EPA remedial action list for a number of years.
“The fact that the Portroe, Silvermines and Gortagarry are over the limit for trihalomethanes is very, very worrying,” Cllr Bugler said.
Trihalomethanes (THMs) are chemical byproducts that form when chlorine or other disinfectants react with naturally occurring organic matter in water.
Discussion then turned to the planned expansion of water treatment infrastructure and how sludge from the process would be disposed of.
Independent councillor Joe Hannigan backed his colleagues’ calls, and asked what is happening with sludge that is being taken out of Lough Derg.
“When water is extracted from the lake, it’s treated and the sludge comes from the dirt that’s in the water,” he said.
“A number of times a week, a truck takes the sludge away from the water treatment plant.
“The question I have is, what’s going to happen with that sludge? How is it going to be dealt with?” Cllr Hannigan asked.
Cllr Hannigan said the municipal district needed concrete answers about this.
Labour councillor Fiona Bonfield also backed her district colleagues calls, and said that the EPA should be invited to any meeting the council holds on water quality.