A JUDGE in Limerick described the record of pollution by Uisce Éireann as “appalling”, asking: “Is this the state entity entrusted with the quality of our water?”
Judge Adrian Harris was hearing a case in the District Court, sitting in Newcastle West, in which one one state agency was prosecuting another for pollution of the River Deel.
Uisce Éireann pleaded guilty to a charge of releasing a toxic chemical – aluminium sulphate – into the River Deel on August 29, 2024.
The prosecution revealed that the water service has had more than 30 prosecutions for pollution since it was set up in 2013.
Giving evidence in the case, senior fisheries officer and scientist with Inland Fisheries Ireland, Jane Guerin, said she received a phone call from the Uisce Éireann plant at Castlemahon, County Limerick, on that date to say there had been an incident.
When she arrived on the scene, she said, “the river was milky white”.
Ms Guerin said that she took water samples and found the water to be polluted with aluminium sulphate, a highly toxic chemical used to a harmless end when properly applied to treating drinking water.
She told the court that the chemical had poured into the river after a valve was accidentally left open at the treatment plant 15 metres away from the river.
“There were fish killed, and although it was a small number, the chemical, when it settles, would have suffocated some insect life, having an effect on the food chain,” she told the court.
The incident happened at 9.30am and Ms Guerin was on-scene at 2.30pm the same day, she said, at which time some of the toxic spill would have diluted, but was still having a major effect on the river.
The court heard from solicitor Dermot O’Donovan, representing Inland Fisheries Ireland, that the spill was a “result of human error” – the error being on the part of a person who had been on duty all night from 2am.
Mr O’Donovan said that the water service’s reputation is “historically not a good one”, with more than 30 prosecutions for pollution, many of which resulted in fish kills, with one “enormous” incident in Ennistymon, County Clare, in May 2023, in which more than 2,000 fish across a range of species were killed.
The water company has sustained thousands in fines on the convictions, including €10,000 for the Ennistymon incident.
Mr O’Donovan said that while it is accepted that Uisce Éireann “has inherited old infrastructure”, the consequences are very serious and it ongoing.
“These things should not be happening but they are, and they are causing significant damage to the environment,” he told the court.
In mitigation, the company’s solicitor pointed out that Uisce Éireann had moved immediately when the incident happened and also pleaded guilty to the charge from the outset.
“The water infrastructure they took over was in a state such that the local authorities were struggling to get to the next level,” the court heard.
He added that Uisce Éireann told the government there is a funding shortfall of “€1billion to do what needs to be done”.
Since the Deel incident, the company has installed a triple-lock system to ensure the same thing cannot happen again and more staff have been recruited to help reduce pressure on working times.
Speaking about the company’s previous convictions, Judge Harris said he is “not impressed by their record”.
He added that there was human error “but I am not going to criticise the individual involved. They were doing the best they could.”
Taking into account that the plea had saved court time and that costs had been agreed, Judge Harris fined Uisce Éireann €3,000, along with legal costs of €1,481 plus expenses of €1,874 to Inland Fisheries.
