Councillor questions lack of fines for polluting Newport bay with raw sewage

A Westport councillor has questioned why nobody has been fined for the continuing pollution of the bay off Newport and accused the EPA of washing their hands of the problem.

Fianna Fáil councillor Brendan Mulroy called on Uisce Éireann to attend a meeting of the Westport/Belmullet Municipal District and give a detailed breakdown on the delivery of Newport Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Cllr Mulroy said he understands the earliest date for the delivery of the new treatment is 2030 and questioned why Uisce Éireann, formerly known as Irish Water, has not been fined for continuing to pollute the bay with raw sewage.

“I really think there is an onus on Mayo County Council to step up to the mark along with the EPA. If my septic tank was flowing anywhere I was putting raw sewage into the tide I would get fined but we are standing by and allowing raw sewage to flow into the bay in Newport.

“It is a case that the EPA seem to have washed their hands of it and are not going near it and the environment section of Mayo County Council say it is the EPA who needs to be dealt with and Irish Water seem to be a law amongst themselves.

“There are fines out there for littering but we are standing by and letting the bay in Newport be polluted on a daily basis. People in Newport would have no difficulty if a date was set for completion in 2030 but we have been at this since 2017 when we were told there was no sewerage going into the bay.

“This is the sort of environmental protection we have in Ireland. I cannot understand how nobody is getting fined here when people are being charged left right and centre in relation to the polluter principle and rightly so but people of Newport deserve better. I will be asking Irish Water to come in here and explain bit by bit where they will deliver this treatment plant,” he said.

Scandal

He was supported by fellow councillors John O'Malley and Paul McNamara who said that the continuing pollution of the bay was a scandal.

“A young man bought a boat and brings people out on the bay but he is embarrassed to go out on a low tide because of the sewage,” said Cllr O'Malley.

“That is not good enough. If any of us did any bit of pollution we would be stopped immediately and fined and farmers payments would be stopped and we would get jail if we continued doing it. But they keep doing it and it is not on,” he added.

Cllr McNamara said the absence of a treatment plant was holding back the development of Newport and he too could not understand how nobody has been fined for polluting the bay.