Mutton Island Sewage Plant

dubhthach

Iwannahurl wrote: »

Unfortunately I can't see those OSI images so I'll take your word for it.

Having walked out to Mutton Island at low tide in the mid 1990's (as many hundreds of people did) I can tell you that they did a good chunk of reclamation for the existing site. Likewise the Harbour company did a good chunk of reclamation after they demolished the Isolation hospital.

The only alternative site within the proximity would have been to build the plant on "The Swamp" which would never have flown with the residents of the Cladagh.

As for Galway County Council, why should the City Council care about their opinion. The two are seperate and legally equivalent organisations (both have "county status" in terms of Local Government). The city councils cares as much about the opinion of the county council as they care about Mayo County Council's opinion.

Of course Galway CoCo have over the years "piggy-backed" on the city. One only has to look at their speculative development just outside the city boundary in Parkmore. Why bother developing industry in country towns such as Tuam, Ballinasloe and Loughrea when they can use the City as a proxy and collect some nice commercial rates. Or in this case instead of building treatment plants for all their zoning activities in Oranmore and Bearna they piggied back on the City Council's waste treatment plant.

Thankfully Galway isn't Limerick where outdated boundaries and a predatory CoCo basically destroyed the city. (donut effect with flight to non-city suburbs, how american)

Iwannahurl

Robbo wrote: »

Looking back, it's hard to see how there was any legitimate opposition to the scheme.

It's also unthinkable that we would have been able to proceed without the scheme given the level of growth in the City and the likelihood that subsequent legislation would have entailed massive fines being accrued. Indeed, given that the Mutton Island plant was upgraded during the "boom years" to take into account the City's growth, it's hard to see how one of the alternatives would have been expanded as easily.

Construction was completed in May 2004 and the upgrade work approved by ABP in 2007.

The OP's one and only post in this thread, so far, claims that the Mutton Island WWTW was (relatively?) "easily" expanded during the "boom years".

I have found no evidence that such an upgrade actually took place. Perhaps the OP could break his self-imposed silence and provide a source for that assertion.

In the meantime, what I have found is that in 2006 Galway City Council sought permission for an upgrade to 170,000 PE. In 2007 An Bord Pleanala approved an upgrade in principle but placed a restriction on the scale of the project subject to a future EIA and regular environmental monitoring:

The biological loading on the proposed works shall not exceed a population equivalent of 115,000 as an average value or of 135,000 as a maximum or peak value, pending the approval of a higher loading which would be based on an environmental assessment set out in an Environmental Impact Statement.

A detailed ongoing monitoring programme shall be implemented to measure the respective quality of the effluent and of the receiving water in the vicinity of the outfall.

Ammonia monitoring shall be carried out on at least a three monthly basis along the migratory path of salmonid fish between Galway Bay and the mouth of the river Corrib. This monitoring shall be carried out at varying depths with a minimum of three samples at each sampling location.

An estimate of the population equivalent discharging to the WWTP at each year end shall be carried out by the Galway City Council and details of this estimate shall be made available for inspection at the offices of Galway City Council.

http://www.pleanala.ie/casenum/EF2018.htm

In the oral hearing for the above application, Galway City Council specifically acknowledged that Mutton Island itself could not be extended, either with "a couple of hundred trucks full of rocks" or anything else:

Mr. Fogarty [Project Manager on the scheme] described the proposed development and stated that extending the boundaries of the site was considered, but deemed not be feasible, given the protected structure on the island and other environmental considerations. He said the upgrade of the plant was therefore limited to using the existing process tanks in a different configuration or with a different process.

After broadening the search, I eventually found a news report I vaguely recalled from a couple of years ago. The gist of the July 2012 Examiner article was that the IDA had bought a former Teagasc site in Athenry for €36 million with a view to developing it as a "Silicon Valley-style industrial campus". Unfortunately the limitations of the Mutton Island WWTW and the planning restrictions attached thereto meant that the IDA's plan was stalled. (Taxpayers did not lose out however: Teagasc used the proceeds to develop training and research facilities elsewhere in the country.)

The IDA's €36 million "Silicon Valley" was instead rented out for grazing sheep, generating an annual income of €17,000:

It appears the sale price was more than the IDA had bargained for. It told Teagasc it was in a competition to attract a major investor. And it believed the Athenry site was ideal, except for limits on the amount of waste water the local network could cope with. This proved a major hurdle. In 2008, after the sale was completed, the IDA found itself lobbying to rescue the potential for the site. It had drawn up a planning application and put an estimate on the amount of water firms would need to bring on to the site and discharge back into the system.

But separately, An Bord Pleanála put a restriction on the amount of water the Galway City plant at Mutton Island could take. Coupled with other developments around Galway, it meant there would be no public facility available to accept treated water from the campus.

The IDA wrote to the EPA in 2008 urging them to licence an increase to 170,000 PE, but all to no avail apparently.

I don't know where things stand with regard to current capacity, upgrade works and the results of environmental monitoring. However, it does look as if this issue is far from resolved.

Sheep may safely graze, but is Galway City Council's "highly constricted" WWTP mutton dressed as lamb?

dubhthach

Athenry is not connected to Mutton Island scheme, sounds like a red-herring to me. Here's an EPA report on Athenry treatment scheme from 2008

http://www.epa.ie/licences/lic_eDMS/090151b2802f932a.pdf

Back in 2011 Phil Hogan gave the go ahead for the new scheme in Athenry:
http://galwayindependent.com/20120511/news/116m-sewerage-system-for-athenry-S3909.html


Having work professionally in the IT business for 11 years it's highly doubtful that any such "Silicon Valley" scheme would have worked anyways. Amazon for example didn't even want to go to Athlone when IDA presented it to them (as a fait complete). It went so far that the IDA had to be called to heal as Amazon threatened to not setup in Ireland if they weren't allowed be based in Dublin.

Iwannahurl

dubhthach wrote: »

Athenry is not connected to Mutton Island scheme, sounds like a red-herring to me. Here's an EPA report on Athenry treatment scheme from 2008

http://www.epa.ie/licences/lic_eDMS/090151b2802f932a.pdf

Back in 2011 Phil Hogan gave the go ahead for the new scheme in Athenry:
http://galwayindependent.com/20120511/news/116m-sewerage-system-for-athenry-S3909.html


Having work professionally in the IT business for 11 years it's highly doubtful that any such "Silicon Valley" scheme would have worked anyways. Amazon for example didn't even want to go to Athlone when IDA presented it to them (as a fait complete). It went so far that the IDA had to be called to heal as Amazon threatened to not setup in Ireland if they weren't allowed be based in Dublin.

The bigger picture is the Galway East WWTP and Galway Main Drainage.

Iwannahurl

dubhthach wrote: »

Athenry is not connected to Mutton Island scheme, sounds like a red-herring to me.

Galway County Council Needs Assessment

The Galway East WWTW is a proposed works which will provide treatment for sewage from the east of Galway City and environs, Clarinbridge, Athenry and Oranmore.

It is proposed to provide a treatment plant of 90,000 P.E. capacity with holding and pumping facilities for each agglomeration. The treated effluent would be pumped to a dedicated outfall adjacent to the existing Mutton Island outfall in Galway Bay. Apart from the densely populated areas close to Galway City, the towns of Athenry, Clarinbridge and Oranmore urgently require this plant.

The next phase of the works upgrade at Athenry will only provide approximately 3,150 P.E. additional capacity.

Further studies will be required to determine whether or not the receiving water at Athenry, the River Clarin, has the assimilative capacity to deal with loadings beyond this threshold.

The proposed development of an IDA technology campus at Athenry will be dependent on having adequate sewerage infrastructure in place.

dubhthach

Read your quote again. It says nothing about "interconnection" with Mutton Island, or the city sewage scheme.

pumped to a dedicated outfall adjacent to the existing Mutton Island outfall in Galway Bay.

You only pump to an outfall after the waste has been treated.

In the scenario that the Plant was in Oranmore this means they would lay a outflow pipe in the bay out as far as Mutton island. There's a very simple reason for this one only has to look at a Bathymetric map of Galway bay. Here's a simplistic representation:



Here's a screenshot I just made:



Again why should Galway City Council give a rats-ass about the sewage treatment requirements of part of the County Council area?

Iwannahurl

dubhthach wrote: »

Read your quote again. It says nothing about "interconnection" with Mutton Island, or the city sewage scheme.

...

There's a very simple reason for this one only has to look at a Bathymetric map of Galway bay.

...

Again why should Galway City Council give a rats-ass about the sewage treatment requirements of part of the County Council area?

Oh dear.

I'm afraid looking at this issue in bathymetric terms gives a rather shallow perspective.

Do you think drainage and the natural environment respect current administrative boundaries? And in any case, what about regional, national and EU policy?

As I've already stated, the bigger picture in terms of strategic planning and infrastructure is the Galway Main Drainage Scheme, and within that the Galway East (proposed) and Mutton Island WWTPs.

Since you appear reluctant to take my word for it, or to look more closely at the relevant documentation, here's what the development plans of the two local authorities have to say on the subject of waste water and drainage, in the broader policy context:

Galway City Development Plan 2011-2017:

The Galway Main Drainage – Stage 3 project consists of three major elements:
• Maximising the treatment potential of the existing Mutton Island Wastewater Treatment Works (WWTW)
• Study of the existing drainage network within the city area.
• Long term strategy for Galway City and adjacent Galway County Council area including Oranmore, Clarinbridge and Barna.

Part of this study will include an examination and assessment of existing foul and surface water and storm drainage infrastructure of the area. It will identify future drainage and treatment needs with particular reference to areas being considered for zoning as development lands and long term strategic planning for the region.

One element of the long term strategy for Galway City and adjacent Galway County Council area is the provision of a new Galway East WWTW located in the general Oranmore/Athenry area. This facility will service undeveloped lands to the east including Ardaun and alleviate future capacity constraints on the existing network by allowing flows, which are currently treated at Mutton Island WWTW, to be diverted to the Galway East WWTW.

This project is being carried out in collaboration with Galway County Council.

Galway County Development Plan 2009-2015:

The pursuit of the East Galway Main Drainage Scheme, Phase 3 is one of the strategic priorities of this Plan. It is considered a key piece of infrastructure to unlock the development potential of the strategic development corridors identified in the county spatial strategy and County Settlement Strategy.

Furthermore, when operational, they would allow for the expansion of the western and eastern satellite settlements such as Bearna, Ardaun, Oranmore, Athenry, Clarinbridge and Kilcolgan to meet their development potential and contribute to the achievement of critical mass in the greater Galway Gateway. The introduction of new licensing regulations in 2007 will require the up-grading of existing waste water treatment schemes.

Objective IS2: Seek to accelerate progress on the delivery of the East Galway Main Drainage Scheme, in particular Phase 3 as a key piece of strategic infrastructure, in conjunction with the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government and Galway City Council.

dubhthach

One element of the long term strategy for Galway City and adjacent Galway County Council area is the provision of a new Galway East WWTW located in the general Oranmore/Athenry area. This facility will service undeveloped lands to the east including Ardaun and alleviate future capacity constraints on the existing network by allowing flows, which are currently treated at Mutton Island WWTW, to be diverted to the Galway East WWTW.

This project is being carried out in collaboration with Galway County Council.

In other words Oranmore (population circa 5,000 in 2011) , somewhere which should never have been serviced from Mutton Island anyways, and which has seen unsustainable development without provision of services as the County Council who wish to be parasitic off the city and collect as much Commercial rates as possible.

The population within the city boundary is 75,529 (2011) up about 50% from 1991. There is enough land within the city boundary for the city to easy grow another 50%-75% in the next 20 years. I very much doubt that they are planning on shipping sewage from Renmore etc. to any proposed WWTP, instead it's a case of the County Council taking responsibility for what actually is produced in it's own local authority area.

If you believe the Connacht Turbine the funding for upgrading Mutton Island was approved late last year:
http://www.connachttribune.ie/galway-news/item/1573-mutton-island-upgrade-to-double-capacity

Iwannahurl

dubhthach wrote: »

In other words Oranmore (population circa 5,000 in 2011) , somewhere which should never have been serviced from Mutton Island anyways, and which has seen unsustainable development without provision of services as the County Council who wish to be parasitic off the city and collect as much Commercial rates as possible.

Galway City Council knew all that before selecting the "highly constrained" Mutton Island site.

dubhthach wrote: »

The population within the city boundary is 75,529 (2011) up about 50% from 1991. There is enough land within the city boundary for the city to easy grow another 50%-75% in the next 20 years. I very much doubt that they are planning on shipping sewage from Renmore etc. to any proposed WWTP, instead it's a case of the County Council taking responsibility for what actually is produced in it's own local authority area.

And the truckloads of sludge leaving Mutton Island for county areas every day represents Galway City Council taking responsibility for what exactly?

Naux

dubhthach wrote: »

Again why should Galway City Council give a rats-ass about the sewage treatment requirements of part of the County Council area?

Yikes that thinking is just nonsense(for the tax payer)

You may well be right in that this may well be the attitude of the City Council but it sure illustrates why we should amalgamate(with redundancies) as many councils as we can. We have a ridiculous amount of councils(and politicians) for a country of our size and population.

dubhthach

Iwannahurl wrote: »

Galway City Council knew all that before selecting the "highly constrained" Mutton Island site.








And the truckloads of sludge leaving Mutton Island for county areas every day represents Galway City Council taking responsibility for what exactly?

So constrained that it can be upgraded to have a capacity equal to City + county population combined for under €10million?

As for the sludge the disposal of which was put up for tender which was won by the specific private company. If they are in breach of EPA guidelines and the law then the County Council should prosecute them. They have a legal department after all, but then things such as actual enforcement has gone down over last 2-3 years. They've never seem to have had a problem with farmers spreading pig crap on their lands which hasn't undergone any treatment. Last I heard the sludge was now going to Waterford for "processing".

Of course if you did anaerobic digestion you'd end up producing methane which could be burnt to produce electricity (ala Natural Gas).

Has Mutton Island been a benefit to the city, I'd say yes. You no longer see turds floating around on Grattan Beach that's for sure! Let alone the site of raw-sewage flowing into the Corrib from the old outflow pipes.

Iwannahurl

dubhthach wrote: »

Has Mutton Island been a benefit to the city, I'd say yes. You no longer see turds floating around on Grattan Beach that's for sure! Let alone the site of raw-sewage flowing into the Corrib from the old outflow pipes.

Waste water treatment is of benefit. I don't recall hearing reports that SGB ever said otherwise.

The question (still) at issue is whether "highly constrained" Mutton Island was the best site, as per the OP's thread title.

Another question for the OP's consideration, and yours: has Galway City Council been carrying out the relevant environmental monitoring and reporting, as ordered by An Bord Pleanala in 2007?

dubhthach

Iwannahurl wrote: »

Waste water treatment is of benefit. I don't recall hearing reports that SGB ever said otherwise.

The question (still) at issue is whether "highly constrained" Mutton Island was the best site, as per the OP's thread title.

Another question for the OP's consideration, and yours: has Galway City Council been carrying out the relevant environmental monitoring and reporting, as ordered by An Bord Pleanala in 2007?

What alternative sites were there? I can only think of two:

1. Isolation hospital -- owned by Harbour Company, since demolished/rebuilt
2. The Swamp -- would never have flown with residents, let alone the loss of playing fields.

As for your question on the EPA I would imagine you would need to ask someone who actually works in the City Council, that or put in a Freedom of Information request that's what the facility is there for.

Or you could put a question into your local councillor, I'd ask mine but I doubt the councillors in Sandymount have any idea what's going on in Rathmines let alone Salthill.

Iwannahurl

Thanks to the OP for putting Mutton Island WWTP firmly back on the agenda again.

The available documentation paints a very interesting picture.

From EPA licensing inspector's report February 2010:

According to the 2006 census, Galway City has a population of approximately 72,000 persons. An assessment carried out in 2007 determined that the current loading on the WWTP is now approximately 130,000 PE. It is predicted that, by 2013, the loading on the plant will rise to 165,500 PE, a figure that includes both domestic and industrial wastewaters, with industrial wastewaters predicted to contribute 24,000 PE to this figure. Consequently, Galway City Council proposes to carry out upgrade works at the Mutton Island plant to increase the treatment capacity to 170,000 PE. It has been determined that there is spare capacity in the existing plant units which, when combined with certain plant modifications, will enable the plants capacity to be increased in a short time frame without the use of any additional land on the Island.

From Galway City Council's 2012 Annual Environmental Report re Mutton Island WWTP:

The average organic loading ... expressed as Population Equivalent (PE) was 145,968. Given the WWTP has been designed for a PE loading of 91,600, this represents an average overload of 59%.

Iwannahurl

An example of why Galway City Council and Galway County Council ought to give more than "a rat's ass" about each other's policies and projects.

From Galway Independent 26th March 2014:

The pumping station recently installed by Galway County Council in the Bearna area at a cost of €6,500,000 is only operating at ten per cent of its capacity because, [local Fianna Fail election candidate MacDara Hosty] said, Galway City Council have not completed proposed works on the Mutton Island facility that would allow the Bearna pumping station to operate to full capacity.

http://www.galwayindependent.com/20140326/politics/bearnana-forbacha-and-buailebeag-forgotten-by-council-hosty-S34380.html

dubhthach

Iwannahurl wrote: »

An example of why Galway City Council and Galway County Council ought to give more than "a rat's ass" about each other's policies and projects.

From Galway Independent 26th March 2014:

So a Fianna Fáil candidate is complaining that more rampant suburbanisation can't occur in Cois Fharraige as planning won't be given until the pumping plant operate at a higher percentage. This is a bad thing why?

The actions of Galway County Council have led to widespread angliscation/language shift due to the influx of commuters into that very area. If anything there shouldn't be any more development allowed there except for local needs. Is there an actual demand in the housing market for more suburbanisation in Bearna when there's plenty of development land within the city boundary? Or is it a case of a FF looking out for his developer friends who want to get land rezoned?

The more interesting thing in that article is the continued neglect of the council of the general area, no community center etc. Why didn't the council get off their arse and build a proper sewage treatment system for eastern Cois Fharraige instead of piggybacking off the city's system.

gordongekko

Never knew everyone was so passionate about ****e

stampydmonkey

gordongekko wrote: »

Never knew everyone was so passionate about ****e

One man's ****e is another man's gold!

Iwannahurl

gordongekko wrote: »

Never knew everyone was so passionate about ****e

The OP's interest seems to have waned after just one post.

dubhthach wrote: »

So a Fianna Fáil candidate is complaining that more rampant suburbanisation can't occur in Cois Fharraige as planning won't be given until the pumping plant operate at a higher percentage. This is a bad thing why?

...

Why didn't the council get off their arse and build a proper sewage treatment system for eastern Cois Fharraige instead of piggybacking off the city's system.

Your awareness of, and attitude towards, regional planning in the context of EU law is illustrated by this little nugget:

dubhthach wrote: »

why should Galway City Council give a rats-ass about the sewage treatment requirements of part of the County Council area?

On the one hand you appear to be arguing for coordinated planning, yet on the other you believe that one local authority needn't give a "rat's ass" for what a neighbouring (and closely connected) Council is doing.

The reality, regardless of whether you (or wannabe FF Councillors) know or care about it, is that EU, national, regional and local policies and strategies all have a bearing. In fact, EU legislation is key.

The EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) is built on the principle of river basin management. River Basin Management Plans, required under the WFD, are "the key tool for the strategic planning of the range of actions required by the different actors to meet the objectives of the Directive". Galway City and County are in the Western River Basin District (RBD).

According to the Western RBD management plan, waste-water discharge points have to be selected to minimise impact on the environment. Sewage treatment plants can't be located, constructed and operated willy-nilly without reference to regional objectives and the WFD.

The WFD legislation also refers to "agglomerations" as distinct from administrative boundaries. Defined agglomerations require a waste water discharge licence, and the EPA's Galway Agglomeration encompasses Galway City, Parkmore, Oranmore and Barna.

The "very compact" Mutton Island WWTP is just one (small, and possibly malfunctioning) cog in a regional waste water management system.

If Mutton Island WWTP is deficient in any way, then there may be consequences for the entire agglomeration or even parts of the RBD. What seems to be happening is that the capacity limitations of Galway City's Mutton Island WWTP are causing strategic and operational problems for Galway County Council, hence the concerns expressed by outgoing Councillors, local election candidates and others (such as the IDA): http://www.epa.ie/licences/lic_eDMS/090151b2802097a5.pdf

Iwannahurl

Robbo wrote: »

...there's no smell from the plant, the water quality in the Bay has improved beyond belief...

... the plant was upgraded during the "boom years" to take into account the City's growth ...

...

I acknowledge the possibility that this will "inspire" a piece in one of the local rags so knock yourselves out you plagiarising, press release recycling hacks.

It seems the local rags and others are indeed taking an interest.

Unfortunately it turns out that, contrary to the OP's assertion, the Mutton Island plant was never upgraded, during the "boom years" or otherwise. Not only that, but it seems that some people believe the water quality in the bay is not "beyond belief" in the way one might hope.

With regard to the necessary upgrade, which was sought not long after the plant opened in 2004, a report by the Local Government Audit Service confirmed in 2012 that the Mutton Island treatment plant had not been upgraded, and also queried the procurement contract arrangements:

Since the Mutton Island Waste Water facility was officially opened in April 2004, no tender has been awarded to date in relation to the ongoing operational and maintenance contract, which is currently costing the Council approximately €2.7 million per annum. Instead the original mechanical and electrical works contractor was given an interim contract to operate and maintain the plant, pending the appointment of a private service provider. This interim contract applies to date.

To achieve cost savings and to ensure the Council complies with procurement regulations, a contract needs to be put in place.

The City Manager's response was:

[Galway City Council] has been actively seeking to award a contract for the operation and maintenance of the Mutton Island Waste Water Treatment Plant for some time. While the formal procurement process commenced in May 2004 with the posting of an advertisement seeking expressions of interest from suitably qualified private service providers to operate and maintain the plant for a 20 year period, the process was delayed for reasons that were not envisaged and were outside the control of Galway City Council.

In the first instance, an operational assessment of the plant identified the need for an upgrade to meet the increasing demands of the city population. It was decided to include a design and build upgrade of the plant within the operation and maintenance contract, resulting in a necessary change to the procurement process and consequent delay. The second delay in 2008 was a consequence of the introduction of Discharge Licensing Regulations. The regulations required the submission of an application for a Waste Water Discharge License to the EPA, which was not granted until April 2010.

Fast forward to the present.

In today's City Tribune ("Mutton Island sewage leak claims are denied -- residents and fishermen insist treatment plant spewing out waste", page 4) Dara Bradley reports that "a local election candidate and residents have claimed that Mutton Island Wastewater Treatment facility is full to capacity and is at bursting point, with raw sewage spilling out into the bay made famous the world over through song."

Song rather than pong, one hopes.

Galway City Council -- just in the nick of time for them, perhaps -- has referred all queries to Irish Water, which the Council says now has responsibility for Mutton Island.

Irish Water has denied the claims about sewage spills, and says that the plant "consistently meets the wastewater quality standards laid down in the Discharge Licence issued by the EPA to Galway City Council, and for which Irish Water is now responsible."

As mentioned earlier in 2012 the average loading on the plant, expressed as Population Equivalent (PE) was 145,968. Given that Mutton Island was designed for a PE loading of 91,600, this represents an average overload of 59% in 2012. The peak loading was actually >330,000, far in excess of the maximum limit imposed by ABP.

Apparently that's OK by the EPA, even though an upgrade to 170,000 PE has not even been started yet.

Not only that, but in the confusing and crooked web (or webs?) of Irish environmental regulation, planning enforcement and pollution control, it is apparently normal for the EPA to issue waste water discharge licences without any (binding) reference to planning conditions imposed by Bord Pleanala.

Also as stated earlier, Bord Pleanala imposed a much lower average capacity limit in 2007, with a condition that an increase would have to be subject to further approval by the Board, based on another Environmental Impact Assessment.

Perhaps someone more knowledgeable than me (one of the 28 thankers of the OP perhaps?) can point me in the right direction, but ttbomk no such planning approval has been issued and no such EIA exists. I'm very much open to correction on that, as non-compliance with regard to such matters would be a rather serious issue. It could cause quite a stink, in fact, and not just locally.

Iwannahurl

This wasn't available online last week. Worth quoting:

Users of the bay, including local residents, fishermen, boat-users and cruise liner operators, have complained that their vessels are covered in raw sewage as a result of having to pass-by the human waste spewing from Mutton Island. It is thought that a nasty ‘pong’ along the coast, particularly at the Claddagh, South Park and the Prom in Salthill, is a direct result of human waste at Mutton Island.

There are fears that, unless capacity at the facility is increased rapidly through capital investment, then it will have serious negative repercussions for the reputation of the city, Galway Bay and tourism in the West of Ireland.

The situation has been described as an environmental and infrastructural crisis by a local election candidate. John Walsh, Fine Gael candidate in Galway City East, said fishermen and other seafarers had reported faecal residue on boats entering the Docks from sailing through swathes of human waste in the Bay.

“These reports are of utmost concern and represent an environmental and infrastructural crisis for Galway,” said Mr Walsh.

“As the peak tourism season approaches, we are facing the prospect of having thousands of visitors on luxury cruise liners dock in a polluted bay, having to navigate through human excrement to come ashore. The city’s reputation is on the line, and it is vital that Galway City Council responds immediately and affords this situation the priority that it warrants,” he said.

Claddagh resident, Paddy Curran, says “the smell is something else”.

“They blamed it on a dead whale but that’s not it. The Claddagh residents and people down at the Claddagh Hall are all worried about it. The pong is unreal. I’ve been reliably told that raw sewage is being discharged from Mutton Island. It’s being discharged into the tide,” he said. Mr Curran said the matter has been raised with city councillors and City Hall.

Another boat-user, who encountered raw sewage seeping from the plant while sailing, said: “I’m not an engineer but it must be capacity issues”.

“We have a population of 72,000 and how many more do you have during the Summer season? And then when the rain water is added in it, there is an overflow into the bay.”

http://connachttribune.ie/irish-water-denies-galway-sewage-leak-claims/

antoobrien

Iwannahurl wrote: »

This wasn't available online last week. Worth quoting:

Fully, not just cherry picking?

You missed the rest of it, one wonders why?

Galway City Council referred all queries to Irish Water, which it said now has responsibility for Mutton Island.

Irish Water in a statement said: “Mutton Island is operated to a very high standard by the operations contractor, and a recent EPA Audit raised no issues in regard to the standard of operation at the plant.

“It should be noted that the plant consistently meets the wastewater quality standards laid down in the Discharge Licence issued by the EPA to Galway City Council, and for which Irish Water is now responsible.

“The capacity of the plant is only exceeded in times of very heavy rainfall, when, due to the amount of rainwater conveyed to the plant, overflows of stormwater which has undergone preliminary treatment occur from the inlet works at the plant.

“The necessity to discharge stormwater is a feature of all wastewater treatment plants. There is an emergency overflow at the entrance to Mutton Island, which discharges untreated stormwater if an exceptional storm event occurs.

“This overflow operated only twice in 2013, both times in December, for a total time period of 157 minutes – this would be the only time that liquid which has undergone no form of treatment at the Mutton Island is discharged.

“The facility is not leaking raw sewage into Galway Bay. The plant operates with very little spare capacity, due to the high organic loading, but the treatment process operates very well and it consistently achieves very high levels of removal of suspended solids and organic matter and is able to produce a high quality treated discharge.”

Irish Water confirmed that an upgrade of capacity at the plant is on the cards.

Iwannahurl

antoobrien wrote: »

Fully, not just cherry picking?

You missed the rest of it, one wonders why?

Iwannahurl wrote: »

Irish Water has denied the claims about sewage spills, and says that the plant "consistently meets the wastewater quality standards laid down in the Discharge Licence issued by the EPA to Galway City Council, and for which Irish Water is now responsible."

I also mentioned that the EPA issues its waste water discharge authorisations without (binding) reference to Bord Pleanala conditions.

Curiously, there also appears to be no statutory body for ensuring that local authorities comply with ABP orders, such as in the case of the treatment capacity of sewage treatment plants.

One wonders why?

antoobrien

Iwannahurl wrote: »

I also mentioned that the EPA issues its waste water discharge authorisations without (binding) reference to Bord Pleanala conditions.

Not in the post I commented on, you cherry picked bits that appear to suggest that there is regular dumping of raw sewage into the bay - (one person even stated that he has been "reliably informed" that this is the case).

According to Irish water, this happened for a total of about 2 1/2 hours in December.

Care to comment on that?

Iwannahurl

antoobrien wrote: »

Not in the post I commented on, you cherry picked bits that appear to suggest that there is regular dumping of raw sewage into the bay - (one person even stated that he has been "reliably informed" that this is the case

According to Irish water, this happened for a total of about 2 1/2 hours in December.

Care to comment on that?

Read the entire thread. Though the OP retired after only one post, I have submitted additional information from different sources.

I have made no claims about raw sewage in Galway Bay. Others have, so if you doubt their word (human excrement clinging to boat hulls etc) you can take it up with them.

Irish Water says "the facility is not leaking raw sewage into Galway Bay". However, I also know that the EPA acknowledges the existence of other (uncontrolled) waste-water discharges in the area, which apparently means that the relative contribution of Mutton Island WWTP to microbial contamination cannot be independently quantified.

I understand that there are a number of locations (including Ballyloughane) that are still not connected to Mutton Island WWTP. There is also the issue of "stormwater", which afaik is released through valves when a certain level of pressure is exceeded, prior to reaching the WWTP.

With regard to planning issues, the EPA's licence for Mutton Island WWTP lets them off the hook in that regard: "nothing in this licence shall be construed as negating the licensee’s statutory obligations or requirements under any other enactments or regulations".

The big question, still unanswered, is: who makes sure that the licensee (in this case Galway City Council) complies with their statutory obligations and requirements under other enactments and regulations?

Answers on the back of a sheet of used toilet paper...

antoobrien

Iwannahurl wrote: »

Read the entire thread

I asked you about a specific post, I'm not interested in the rest of your ramblings.

Iwannahurl wrote: »

I understand that there are a number of locations (including Ballyloughane) that are still not connected to Mutton Island WWTP

They're talking about that for years, it's supposed to be part of phase three of the sewage scheme, though it'd probably be cheaper to upgrade the septic tanks systems instead of connecting them into the main sewage system.

Iwannahurl wrote: »

I have made no claims about raw sewage in Galway Bay

I didn't say you did, I merely commented on your rather unbalanced editing of the article in question which highlighted the critical nature of it, without referencing the responses.

All in all it looks like axe to grind territory.

Iwannahurl wrote: »

The big question, still unanswered, is: who makes sure that the licensee (in this case Galway City Council) complies with their statutory obligations and requirements under other enactments and regulations?

You should probably start by reading this

Patrickheg

Mother of God, another hijacked thread. Is there no end!

Iwannahurl

Bathing banned after sewage found in sea.

antoobrien

Iwannahurl wrote: »

Bathing banned after sewage found in sea.

Not a problem restricted to Galway bay: http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/swimming-banned-at-sandymount-and-killiney-beaches-30437232.html

Iwannahurl

antoobrien wrote: »

Not a problem restricted to Galway bay: http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/swimming-banned-at-sandymount-and-killiney-beaches-30437232.html

Wasn't the 98.5 million Euro Shanganagh Bray Main Drainage Scheme meant to fix problems such as the sewage contamination of Killiney Beach?

Or was the level of rainfall far greater than the system could handle?