The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found evidence of elevated levels of ammonia being discharged into a tributary of the Blackwater earlier this month. However, it adjudged it was not the cause of death of thousands of fish in the Blackwater several kilometres downstream.
The EPA confirmed it deployed three teams of inspectors to investigate a number of industrial sites licensed by the EPA, as well as wastewater discharge and drinking water plants in the Mallow and Kanturk areas following the fish kill, first noticed on August 11th.
Anglers initially noticed an estimated 1,000 dead brown trout over an 8km stretch of the Blackwater from Roskeen Bridge near Lombardstown downstream to Mallow. They reported the matter to Inland Fisheries Ireland, who began investigating the deaths.
According to the EPA in its statement, it deployed its teams of inspectors on the morning of August 12th following a complaint from a member of the public about dead fish in the Blackwater. Among the licensed sites examined was North Cork Creameries in Kanturk.
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The creamery, which is located on Strand Street in the town and employs 75 people, operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It processes about 90 million litres of milk a year to make butter, liquid milk, cream, skimmed milk powder, rennet casein and whey concentrate.
The plant is licensed to discharge effluent into the nearby Allow, a tributary of the Blackwater. On August 12th EPA inspectors noted there was only a trickle ofdischarge from the site’s waste water treatment plant at the time of the inspection and they took samples of the discharge.
“The licensee [North Cork Creameries] stated they had turned off the discharge earlier that morning as they detected elevated ammonia in the discharge. Flow data for the preceding hours demonstrates that the volume discharged up to that point was within licence limits.
“The samples were analysed for a range of parameters including ammonia, orthophosphate and chemical oxygen demand (COD), which are indicators of polluting potential. Ammonia in particular has the potential to be toxic to aquatic life,” said the EPA in the statement to The Irish Times.
The EPA said that while elevated levels of ammonia were detected in the North Cork Creameries discharge, the plant discharges into the Allow. Inland Fisheries Ireland confirmed to the EPA on August 12th that they did not detect any fish kill in the Allow at that time.
The EPA further pointed out that based on the monitoring of water samples taken from the Blackwater on August 12th by Cork County Council staff, ammonia levels in the Blackwater at the time were “good and not of concern”.
“Given the distance between the North Cork Creameries discharge and the Blackwater, the volume of water in both rivers and the good ammonia levels in the Blackwater at that time, it is considered that the North Cork Creameries discharge could not have caused the fish kill in the Blackwater.”
Earlier this week, North Cork Creameries said in a statement to The Irish Times that it was not connected with the fish deaths. It pointed out that the EPA had said its preliminary sample results indicated “no causal link between the fish kill and discharges from EPA licensed sites”.
The creamery pointed out that the area of concern where fish were found dead (Clonmeen near Banteer Bridge) was some 6km downstream of its site. It said it was continuing to work closely with the EPA to ensure it is in compliance with the terms of its licence for discharges.
“For our part, we are engaged with the EPA proactively and cooperatively, both in compliance with our licensing requirements and in line with our commitment to environmental sustainability throughout the entirety of our operations and this is not considered out of the ordinary.”
