Sewage spill

Council responds to Castlebar sewage spillage

Áine Ryan

COUNCIL OFFICIALS have acknowledged that remedial works had not resolved the problem of recurrent sewage spillages at a Castlebar housing estate, Rowan Drive. However, they have confirmed they will now endeavour to obviate the problem and that the completion of the new treatment plant will ultimately resolve the issue.
“We are not too happy with the recurrence of the sewage spillage, to say the least, and are now in communication with the North West Regional Fisheries Board (NWRFB) about issues arising from it. We thought that earlier efforts had fixed the problem,” said County Engineer, Mr Joe Beirne.
Speaking at last week’s Town Council meeting, he said the authority was in communication with Tobin’s Consulting Engineers about possible solutions and that if the treatment plant had been ‘up and running’ the problem would not have arisen.
Cllr Brendan Henaghan argued that there was an onus on the Council not to allow such a spillage to recur, particularly on health and safety grounds.
Welcoming the imminent completion of the significant piece of infrastructure, councillors, in general, observed that it is pivotal to the development and the economic future of the town.
Mr Beirne also explained that while the plant will cater for a population equivalent of 35,000 – since that included major industrial units such as Baxter’s – it effectively translated into about half that figure.
He also said that according to an An Bord Pleanála (ABP) condition – which had given approval for 35,000 in phase one – there was provision for an increase to 45,000 in the future.