Aontú representative calls on government to urgently invest in our water treatment plants to stop the pumping of raw sewage into our waterways .
Peter whelan , the Aontú representative for the Laytown Bettystown electoral area was commenting after the release of a report from The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) . In its 2022 detailed report , the EPA stated that the equivalent of three Olympic size swimming pools of raw sewage was and is being pumped into our national waterways on a daily basis.
Peter Whelan
In a statement today Peter Whelan said:
This report does not surprise me . I and my party Aontú have previously called for investment in our water treatment plants. This report shows that over half of our waste water discharges do not comply with EU standards.
I was involved and still am in a campaign to stop treated effluent being pumped into a protected River Boyne by a meat company . To think that local authorities are giving planning permission to private companies to pump waste water into a protected river is obscene.
At the same time fishermen have sent me video footage of raw sewage being pumped into this same river at Donore and Blackcastle which are both Meath county council water treatment plants . It is thirty years now since Ireland was due to comply with EU environmental protection standards.
It is shocking and totally unacceptable that still half of the waste water treatment plants in the country are not up to this standard.
Peter Whelan concluded by saying , ”The pace of which Uisce Éireann is delivering improvements needs to accelerate to prevent further pollution of our water resources”.
