GALWAY COUNTY COUNCIL GUILTY OF POLLUTION IN ATHENRY

Date Published: 16-Nov-2009

Galway County Council has been found guilty of polluting a river near Athenry.

The Clarin River which supports populations of salmon, brown trout, freshwater crayfish, eel amd lamprey, was found to be grossly polluted as a result of discharges from the councils sewage treatment plant in Athenry.

At Ennis district court, Judge Aeneus McCarthy imposed fines of 800 euro, and awarded over 5,300 euro technical expenses and 3,200 legal costs against Galway County council.

The offence dated back to 26th July 2006, and while details of the case were previously heard in 2007, the matter was adjourned to allow the council time to rectify matters before deciding on a penalty.

Since then, over one million euro has been invested in the sewage plant, and two sets of upgrade work have been carried out.CEO of the Fisheries board, Greg Forde, says that further improvements need to be carried out to meet the long term needs of Athenry