Donegal County Councillors met with Irish Water representatives to highlight their concerns regarding the waste water treatment plant in Dungloe.
An emergency meeting with Irish Water was requested by Independent Cllr Michael Choilm Mac Giolla Easbuig following the effluent seepage from the Dungloe plant two weeks ago, when residents of the Meenmore area of Dungloe were disgusted to find that the effluent contained in the newly opened waste water treatment plant had overflowed over the sides of the facility.
The potential threat to public health from waste water is at the heart of the residents’ concerns. As the water oozed from the structure on 15th July, it blew towards four existing homes downwind to the north of the facility.
Fianna Fail Cllr Enda Bonner and Sinn Féin Cllr Marie Therese Gallagher also attended the meeting with five Irish Water representatives in the County Council offices yesterday.
The three main concerns addressed at the meeting were; the effluent seepage, the slick on Dungloe bay, and the poor maintenance of the Pole road.
Irish Water say that a report into the effluent seepage will be issued in the coming weeks addressing where they believe the issue lies.
Speaking to Donegal Daily, Cllr Mac Giolla Easbuig said “I brought up how the privitisation of our water, and how detrimental it is to the community.
“Irish Water hire out private companies to design, build, and maintain the sewage treatment plant and it is not in the best interest of the people. When you give projects like this to private companies the sole interest is profit and I believe since they are private, corners will be cut.
“It is not in the best interest of the taxpayer when works like this are outsourced. It should be managed by the State (Irish Water) and no one else.
Cllr Mac Giolla Easbuig also revealed that Irish Water are moving away from this type of model as it’s more cost effective for the taxpayer.
Since the work began on the Dungloe wastewater treatment plant, the Pole road has fallen into a state of disrepair and has caused major issues for residents.
Along with Cllr Mac Giolla Easbuig, residents have staged several protests to highlight their disappointment over the condition of the road. During some of their protests they were forced to block the road in order to get their message across.
“To date we don’t have a specific time of when the road will be finished. The road must be done. My big difficulty is the way they maintained the road from the start of the construction of the Dungloe facility. A number of people have had their cars damaged on the road, costing them a significant amount of money.”
The road works were scheduled to be completed in February or March 2017 “subject to settlement”, however they have now been rescheduled until August.
“I want to see that road done as soon as possible, of course there has to be a settlement period, but there was no maintenance while the settlement period was happening.”
Irish Water have also refused to meet with the residents of Meenmore, which Cllr Mac Giolla Easbuig says is “simply unacceptable”.
“Another huge difficulty of mine is Irish Water’s refusal to meet with the concerned residents of the Pole road, it’s not good enough.
“They are tax payers, they are the ones who are paying for it, it’s on their doorstep. It’s simply not acceptable.”
Regarding Dungloe bay, Donegal County Council are to carry out a full investigation into the unsightly slick.
Cllr Marie Therese Gallagher has requested a monitoring system to regulate the quality of the water before it is released into the bay. Over the past couple of months, she has been taking samples from the bay in order to build a report.
Irish Water are also going to explore the possibility of publishing an information leaflet on the workings of the plant for the Dungloe community, which will be available in both Irish and English.
Cllr Mac Giolla Easbuig says the meeting was constructive and hopes action will follow.
Featured image by Elaine Mc Callig for Donegal Daily.
Tags: