Council stands over quality of Corrib drinking water but controversy continues

By TONY GALVIN THE quality of drinking water sourced from Lough Corrib is not in doubt and is monitored on a regular basis to ensure it is of the highest quality. This is the assurance given to the Tuam Herald by Galway Co Council head of Water Services Jim Cullen in the wake of issues raised by environmental scientist Dr Roderick O'Sullivan who has stated that Lough Corrib, the source of Tuam's and much of the county's drinking water, is being used as a glorified cesspool by the local authority. He also accused the Co Council of being slow to tackle agricultural pollution because many of the elected members of the council are from farming backgrounds. Director of Service Jim Cullen said there were conflicting statements being made on the many issues involved with water quality and pollution but the public can be assured that the water from their taps is of the highest quality. However, the issue causing most public concern is the statement made by Dr O'Sullivan in an article published in the Connacht Tribune recently, that a banned herbicide, Casoron G, was used to clear invasive pondweed from sections of the lake. He also stated that a sizeable proportion of Galway and Mayo's agricultural waste and slurry run-off ended up in the lake, carried through a network of over and underground waterways. In addition, he argued that untreated sewage from urban areas within the Corrib's catchment area is deposited in the lake and that many of the waste treatment plants discharging into the lake were outdated and inefficient. He put the blame for this situation on local authorities such as Galway Co Council which have the responsibility of protecting water quality and ensuring the standard of drinking water supplied to homes. The European Commission have issued Ireland with a number of warnings regarding the failure to abide by EU law which requires member states to provide clear drinking water for citizens. [private] In a statement on the controversial issue of the use of the herbicide Casoron G, banned over fears of cancer causing properties, Galway Co Council said: 'When the product in question was used it was approved for such usage by the Pesticides Control Service of the Department of Agriculture and Food and was used in very controlled and localised circumstances under the supervision of highly qualified staff of Inland Fisheries Ireland. 'Its use was only permitted where other methods of weed control were entirely impractical and its results were promising.  As Lough Corrib is a SAC the National Parks and Wildlife Service of the Department of the Environment were informed of the proposed use of the Casoron G prior to commencement. 'It is understood the product has not been in use for some time.  The public drinking water supply is sampled by Galway Co Council on an ongoing basis and it has and continues to be in full compliance with the standards for drinking water in the EU drinking water regulations.' MEP says local authorities colluding in pollution IN a related development Connachtâ€â€œUlster MEP Marian Harkin has also raised concerns over what she says is officially sanctioned water pollution and cites Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) data to back her argument that official Ireland is causing more pollution than septic tank owners. The EPA's report on the performance of the state's sewage treatment plants points to what she terms as a 'shocking non-compliance rate' and the septic tank issue is being used to deflect from this embarrassing fact. 'What has been revealed in this report is that the threat to the quality of Ireland's waters and the country's ability to meet targets set under the EU Water Framework Directive comes largely from the state and not from septic tanks. 'This in turn highlights the unfairness inherent in government policy which seeks to penalise septic tanks owners while making insufficient investment in a sector which represents a third of the country's population. 'Disgraceful and misleading attempts have been made to relate septic tanks to problems which clearly lie in the failure to effectively tackle urban waste water treatment despite the billions spent on it. 'Perhaps now those in government, and those in organisations dedicated to preventing the building of one-off houses in the countryside will, in the light of this EPA report, cease to mislead people on who has the major responsibility for the pollution of Ireland's waters,' she said. [/private]