Minister Dooley convenes third inter-agency group meeting in relation to the fish mortality on the River Blackwater
- Foilsithe:
- An t-eolas is déanaí:
Minister of State with responsibility for Fisheries and the Marine Timmy Dooley today convened a third meeting of an inter-agency group collaborating to establish the cause of fish mortalities in the River Blackwater catchment. This follows a second meeting of the group that took place on Monday. The group was established at the direction of the Minister and is coordinated by Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI).
IFI, Cork County Council, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Local Authorities Water Programme (LAWPRO), National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), HSE, the Marine Institute, and Uisce Éireann – along with representatives from government departments – attended the meeting. The group was updated on continued work to establish the cause of the fish mortalities. This follows the publication of technical reports from the Marine Institute and the EPA in relation to lab tests, virology reports and site visits. The results of these reports continue to be examined, and investigations are ongoing to establish the cause. All bodies are working together to progress and advance the ongoing investigation.
EPA inspectors have focused their investigation on the following EPA regulated facilities in the Blackwater catchment:
- 10 licensed industrial sites
- 17 wastewater discharges (8 of which hold wastewater discharge licences and nine which hold certificates of authorisation)
- 2 drinking water plants that use chemicals for coagulation and flocculation.
A number of licensed sites were not in compliance with certain licence conditions during the period, which are the subject of separate enforcement actions. However, to date, the EPA has not identified a causal link between discharges from the EPA-regulated facilities and the fish kill.
As part of the investigation, the EPA continues to carry out further inspections, including an assessment of monitoring data on regulated facilities in this area.
IFI, EPA, and Cork County Council are continuing macroinvertebrate sampling in the river. IFI has also carried out a limited electrofishing survey as part of its investigations, and is also continuing with habitat inspections in the area. In addition, they are awaiting the results of an analysis of 28 fish specimens to detect a potential presence of heavy metals, chemicals, or pesticides in their systems. Results of these samples are expected next week.
Cork County Council has been providing investigative support to IFI since the incident was reported, including daily monitoring of water conditions throughout the catchment.
Uisce Éireann undertakes monitoring of drinking water supplies in accordance with the requirements of the Drinking Water Regulations. Monitoring results from the Mallow water treatment plant to date have shown that the water is safe to drink. Monitoring is ongoing and any incidents or failing sample results would be immediately reviewed and risk assessed to determine if consultation with the HSE was required, and reported to the EPA.
Speaking after the meeting, Minister Dooley said:
"From my engagement with anglers at our recent townhall meeting in Mallow, I'm aware of the enormous impact this incident has had on local communities and users of the Blackwater River. We are working collaboratively to learn as much as we can to minimise the risk of this kind of event occurring again. We are continuing to work with scientific and environmental experts across all our agencies to establish the cause of this devastating incident. Given the complexity and scale of this work, it is important that we are careful not to speculate on potential causes until we have all the data available to make evidence-informed assessments. All agencies involved are engaging with relevant stakeholders, and will continue to provide updated data and information as it becomes available, and I am updating government colleagues as the investigation progresses."
ENDS