1,300 wheelie bins of sewage flow into Casla Bay every day
The equivalent of 1,300 wheelie bins of untreated wastewater flows into Casla Bay every day – and yet plans for a Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) for An Cheathrú Rua remain stuck in limbo, more than two decades on from when it was identified as needed.
Irish Water’s longstanding and controversial plans to compulsorily purchase a site at Sruthán Pier to develop a treatment plant to serve the Gaeltacht town appears in tatters but it has yet to commit to sourcing an alternative site.
The state company persisted with the plans against the advice of public representatives and residents.
In the meantime, the owner of the site, Glann Mór Céibh Teoranta, trading as Ionad Oidreachta na mBádóirí, secured planning permission to build what it described as a ‘world class’ immersive cultural heritage visitor attraction.
And just last month, County Councillors included a provision in the new County Development Plan 2022-2028 for a 100-metre minimum setback for all new WWTPs in An Cheathrú Rua.
This vote again effectively ruled-out the Sruthán Pier, much to the annoyance of Irish Water who claimed it would, “cause uncertainty over the timeline for the delivery of the ongoing project to provide wastewater treatment for this untreated agglomeration and mean that Irish Water are unable to commit to the provision of a WWTP for An Cheathrú Rua within the lifetime of the Draft Plan.”
The new specific objective in the Development Plan and the planning permission for a cultural centre effectively sinks Irish Water’s hopes of building at Sruthán Pier.
“Irish Water are aware of the recent An Bórd Pleanála decision and we are currently reviewing its implications for the proposed sewerage scheme and the current CPO,” the company told the Connacht Tribune.
Galway West TD Catherine Connolly (Ind) raised the issue in Dáil Éireann and said more suitable sites were available.
“We cannot stand over a situation where raw sewage is flowing into the bay in Conamara, in the heart of the Gaeltacht,” she said.
Deputy Connolly said she remembers the need for a WWTP in An Cheathrú Rua from when she was first elected to the City Council in 1999; and it pre-dates that.
She said locals believe an Údarás na Gaeltachta site in Ros an Mhíl could provide a solution.
“There is a site in the ownership of a state agency, we were told that that was too costly, but nobody has made up the cost of not dealing with the raw sewage,” she said.
Green Party Minister of State Malcolm Noonan said it was “unacceptable for raw sewage to be discharging into our water courses”.
He agreed that if there was an alternative site, Irish Water should pursue it.
Údarás na Gaeltachta, in a statement to the Tribune, indicated it was open to working with Irish Water (Uisce Éireann), on progressing a project at Ros an Mhíl.
“The existing WWTP in Ros an Mhíl was designed and commissioned to deal with the Údarás na Gaeltachta industrial estate facilities at the location, along with facilities at Ros an Mhíl port.
“While unable to comment on the capacity requirements of a municipal treatment plant for the An Cheathrú Rua region, Údarás are open to co-operating with Uisce Éireann in assisting with any such development.
“Indeed, Údarás na Gaeltachta has worked in the past with Uisce Éireann in providing Údarás wastewater facilities that were subsequently upgraded by UÉ for use as municipal wastewater treatment systems,” it said.
Kevin O’Hara, a Sinn Féin rep in Conamara, said a needs’ assessment carried out in the 2000s identified 2012 as the completion date for the facility; ten years on there’s no start date and no site let alone a finish date.
“I’m concerned with some of the narrative around it because there is a push there to put it into Ros a’ Mhíl, and possibly link it with the deep-water port development there. But there’s no guarantee that development will happen. It’s been announced in fanfare but . . . Whereas the sewage treatment plant is legally required. We are in breach of EU law by not having it.
“If we haven’t started to incur fines already, we will soon incur fines because they promised the EU they’d get this done for quite a while now,” Mr O’Hara said.
He said that the lack of WWTP was causing problems for locals trying to get planning permissions, because new homes rely on septic tanks, which can provide a planning hurdle.
“There’s no leadership from Irish Water; it is their responsibility; it is their problem. I don’t think as an organisation they are functioning well or making progress in Conamara,” he said.
Irish Water reiterated the need for WWTP.
“The proposed project will stop the discharge of the equivalent of 1,300 wheelie bins of untreated wastewater being discharged directly into Casla Bay each day. The existing wastewater network was constructed in the 1950’s and upgraded in 2007.
“Wastewater from the village is collected in the public sewer system and is discharged to the sea outfall to Casla Bay at Sruthán Pier. There is currently no treatment of the wastewater prior to discharge to Casla Bay,” it said.
(Photo: Mikey Darby)