A prosecution is to follow the serious river pollution caused by pig slurry in Co Cork over the weekend. In the outcry over the incident, the Irish Fishermen's Organisation (IFO) said jail sentences for people who pollute rivers would now appear to be the only effective deterrent. Its general secretary, Mr Frank Doyle, was commenting on the slurry leak into two tributaries of the River Lee which is said to have killed over 100,000 trout and salmon and at one point threatened the water supply to Cork city.
Mr Doyle said financial penalties and an obligation to clean and restock rivers had not proved an effective deterrent. Only a jail sentence, already provided for in legislation, would prevent deliberate polluting. Cork TD and Minister for State at the
Department of the Environment, Mr Dan Wallace, described the incident as serious and damaging. Mr Wallace said it was important that the fisheries board and Cork County Council co-operate in availing of their statutory powers to deal with pollution and to make clear to potential polluters the level of penalty they faced if convicted.
The Green Party TD, Mr John Gormley, said the weekend fish kill in
Cork was one of the most serious in Munster in recent years. Mr
Gormley said: "Across the country there has been an increase in the number of fish kills. It seems as though we're going back to the bad old days."
Meanwhile, in Cork, further evidence has emerged that farmers are wasting large sums of money every year on phosphate fertiliser for their land and putting the country's rivers at risk as a result.
A recent study of soil in Cork's Lee valley showed there was up to five times more phosphate in the land than was required for optimum growth.
An extensive education programme for farmers, especially on the overuse of phosphate fertiliser and the care of slurry pits, was called for by Mr Aiden Barry, manager of the South Western Fisheries
Board, following the latest fish kill. Two of the country's best known tourist attractions, Blarney and Killarney, have both been affected by pollution, Mr Barry pointed out.
Dead fish were still floating yesterday on the Martin river in
Blarney while the Killarney lakes are suffering algae bloom from fertiliser use.
It is the worst outbreak of algae bloom in the Kerry lakes for about 10 years, according to Mr Barry. He appealed to farmers to have their soil tested before they spread any more phosphate. He said maximum growth for crops was achieved from six parts of phosphate per million, but recent tests in the Lee Valley showed levels of about 30 parts per million. "Spreading more phosphate is a complete waste of farmers' money, as well as increasing the danger to our environment," he said. Farmers had up to £400 worth of this most expensive artificial fertiliser in their soil that they do not need. Many of them buy a mixture of fertiliser that includes phosphates when they need no more of the mineral for their land. It made its way into waterways and created the conditions that lead to the growth of the algae, Mr Barry claimed.
Figures collected by the Department of the Environment showed there was an overuse of phosphates nationally, with more than twice the amount of the fertiliser being put into the soil than was coming out annually. Phosphates from farm fertiliser accounts for up to 90
per cent of the problem while its use in household detergents accounts for at least 10 per cent. Where waste water from homes is properly treated or goes into the sea it does not cause major problems, but when it is discharged into rivers it contributes to pollution, said Mr Barry. "We are paying for our lack of care and ignorance about our environment and cutting down on phosphates is one way that would help enormously, and it is also a course of action that would not cost anything. In fact, it would save farmers money,"
he added.
A number of fish kills this year have been caused by slurry overflowing from tanks while they were being filled unattended.
Tanks should be fitted with valves or alarms to cut off before they overflow, said Mr Barry.
"We are not dealing with rocket science here. This should be quite simple to organise but farmers have to begin to build in these safeguards to their costing of pig or cattle rearing and not see it as an optional extra at a future date," he added.
The slurry passed from the River Martin to the Lee on Sunday and passed in a diluted form through Cork city on Sunday night. Mr Barry said they will prosecute the offender, who had been traced over the weekend.