Further bog slides will occur if work on the €60 million wind farm project at Derrybrien, Co Galway, continues, residents have warned. On the eve of the first anniversary of the landslide, locals have commissioned a report which warns of a recurrence, writes Lorna Siggins in Galway.
The report by consultants Mr Richard Lindsay and Dr Olivia Bragg, both attached to the University of East London, indicates that no further development should be permitted until thorough geo-technical investigations have been carried out, according to the chairman of the newly formed Derrybrien Development Co-Op, Mr Martin Collins.
"We have been advised by our consultants that in this case, not merely will land in the vicinity of Derrybrien be put at risk but also the homes and lives of the local residents will be put in danger," he said yesterday.
No residents were injured in the landslide which occurred a year ago in the Slieve Aughty mountains during construction of the 60 mw wind farm project by the ESB subsidiary, Hibernian Wind Power.
But the slide, a month after a devastating series of landslides in Pollathomas, north Mayo, caused substantial damage to land owned by both Coillte and local farmers and resulted in a fish kill on the Lough Cutra river system.
Alleged pollution caused by the landslide is the subject of a court case taken by the Shannon Regional Fisheries Board and Galway County Council which is due to open in Gort next Monday.
A report commissioned by the company subsequently admitted that construction work had been the main cause of the bog slide, and the ESB said that all recommendations made by the report's authors would be implemented.
It also promised to carry out all recommendations made in a separate investigation carried out by Galway County Council.
Immediately after the event, the Institute of Geologists confirmed that its guidelines for the Government, which might have ameliorated the circumstances in Derrybrien, had been ignored. The institute had recommended that the geology chapter of environmental impact statements pertaining to such projects should be signed off by a professional geologist.
Subsequently, the European Commission issued the Government with an initial warning over aspects of the wind farm project, pointing out that the environmental impact assessments undertaken appeared to have been "manifestly deficient" in "failing to provide any or adequate information on the geophysical risks associated with the project".
Work resumed on the wind farm construction in August and Hibernian Wind Power expects that it will take another 12 to 18 months to complete. A spokesman for the company said yesterday it had not heard anything from consultants engaged by the residents, but would examine findings of any such report.