Saturday, August 20, 2011

Council denies damage to holy well

A LOCAL authority has denied that sewage treatment work being carried out could compromise the water at a holy well which many local people believe has curative powers.

Wexford County Council has come under criticism after it began work on the construction of an outfall pipeline near St Bridget’s Holy Well at Terrerath near New Ross.

One farmer has claimed that no consultation took place with local people or with church authorities.

The local authority has already acknowledged a "miscommunication" between the council and the contractor working on their behalf, which led to the ditch on one farm being damaged.

In a letter dated August 5 to Paddy Kent, whose ditch was damaged, a council engineer acknowledged the error.

It states: "Also, while constructing our outfall pipeline, it passed St Bridget’s Holy Well at the side of the road."

It goes on to say that during the construction phase it crossed the pipeline supplying water to the well and noticed that a steel tube in the pipe had been heavily corroded. It was replaced with a larger section of watermain piping.

The works were being carried out to install a treatment plant to serve St Brigid’s Terrace, a nearby housing estate, replacing an old septic tank that no longer works.

Mr Kent said the process had been heavy-handed and that effluent would be discharged onto his land and into a stream, something which could have an effect on his livestock, particularly as he is in the Bord Bia Quality Assurance scheme.

He also questioned whether the council were entitled to discharge effluent in such a manner.

"In their correspondence, [the council] state that they have a certificate of authorisation dating March 1, 2011, granting them authority to discharge into the small stream on my land, and I received a copy of that authorisation from the [Environmental Protection Agency] and it does not give them authorisation to discharge into the very small stream," he said.

Mr Kent also said that map co-ordinates provided by the Environmental Protection Agency last week as to where the treated effluent could be discharged did not tally with where the water would actually come out.

But the chartered engineer with the council’s water services section, Leonard Poole, has said: "When we put in the outfall pipe we used a sealed pipe so there is no possibility of contamination. Also, the outfall pipe is at a lower level than the well so even as it passes the well it’s at lower than water level. The water in the well is fine."

A spokesperson for the Environmental Protection Agency said it had not received any complaints regarding the well and that no investigation was underway.