Inland Fisheries Ireland prosecutes Irish Water for fish kill on the Ballycorrigan River in Tipperary
Inland Fisheries Ireland prosecuted Irish Water yesterday at Ballina District Court, Co. Tipperary for the discharge of a harmful substance into the Ballycorrigan River, on 17th May 2018, causing a fish kill. Among the fish mortalities were 100 brown trout of different age groups, three juvenile salmon and one stone loach which were killed when a cleaning substance was discharged into the river.
Judge Patrick Durcan heard evidence from Mr. Michael Fitzsimons, a Senior Fisheries Environmental Officer with Inland Fisheries Ireland, that following a pollution report received from the general public, Inland Fisheries Ireland carried out a detailed investigation. It found that the fish kill was caused by a combination of effluents arising from an uncontrolled maintenance event from the Irish Water Ballina/Killaloe Wastewater Treatment plant.
Irish Water entered a guilty plea. Judge Durcan directed Irish Water to pay Inland Fisheries Ireland’s legal costs of €2,290 and fined Irish Water €2,500. Judge Durcan stated that Irish Water did not take into consideration the environment and conditions when discharging into the river and that Ireland’s rivers are its most important natural resource. He said that while these resources are maintained under the vigilance of Inland Fisheries Ireland, Irish Water needs to be vigilant too.
Ms. Amanda Mooney, Director of the Shannon River Basin District with Inland Fisheries Ireland said: “Irish Water co-operated fully with Inland Fisheries Ireland’s investigation and updated its cleaning protocols for the use of chemicals in treatment plants nationwide with more appropriate methods now in use as a direct result of this incident. Our fisheries resource is an extremely valuable asset, both from a recreational and economic perspective and it is crucial that we continue to protect and conserve it for future generations to enjoy.”
Inland Fisheries Ireland has a 24 hour confidential hotline number to enable members of the general public to report incidents – 0818 34 74 24 or 0818 FISH 24. All reports are treated with confidentiality.
For more information about Inland Fisheries Ireland, visit www.fisheriesireland.ie.
