Environmental authorities have been notified after a burst in a storm water overflow pipe from the sewage system in an ecologically sensitive environment beside a blue-flag beach in Co Meath.
A meeting between Uisce Éireann and Meath County Council has been arranged for Tuesday to discuss carrying out repairs to the rising main pipe on the Golf Links Road, between Mornington and Bettystown, on Friday morning.
Uisce Éireann confirmed that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Food Safety Authority, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Inland Fisheries Ireland and the National Parks and Wildlife Service have all been notified.
Concerns were raised by a local resident who noticed the spillage while walking his dog along the beach before 11am.
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Joe Hoyne said he investigated the spill after detecting a “horrendous stench” and saw what he believes was sewage flowing over an 800m stretch of the protected dunes.
“I was out walking my dog as usual this morning and there was a horrible smell along the beach before I came across the spill from a fractured pipe,” he said. “Loads of people walk or run this route and many others out walking were also commenting on the horrendous stench.
“This brown sludge spilled over an area of the dunes with crests and troughs and settled in pools in the troughs.
“I’ve lived here almost 30 years and noticed this pipe over 20 years ago. I reported a smaller burst of the same pipe about a year ago and it was fixed but the pipe obviously can’t handle the volume.
“This is near a blue-flag beach at Bettystown and loads of people swim and use the water near where this pipe discharges this stuff directly into the sea. Questions need to be answered here.”
Local Fianna Fáil councillor Stephen McKee has asked for “full transparency” in the investigations.
“This is extremely worrying,” he said. “This happened near a blue-flag beach, in an area of conservation which is used by so many people and their children.
“We have to bring this into focus and we need full transparency, not only of how this happened but what is being discharged, how much and where.”
In a reply to a query “regarding a reported sewage overflow at Bettystown/Mornington, Co Meath”, Uisce Éireann said: “Staff reported the incident to the EPA this afternoon and are working to resolve the matter.
“We can confirm that a meeting has been organised with Meath County Council staff for Tuesday, 3rd February to discuss the logistics of carrying out the repairs to the rising main in an ecologically sensitive environment.”
In a statement the EPA said it was notified on Friday of “a burst in a storm water overflow pipe from East Meath Pump Station within the Drogheda agglomeration” resulting in “surcharging at the beach in Mornington”.
“Storm water is pumped through this pipe during overflow events associated with heavy rainfall,” it said.
Uisce Éireann has said that pumping of storm water through the damaged storm pipe has ceased and surcharging at the beach has stopped. An investigation into the cause of the burst pipe, actions needed to repair it and any additional corrective actions needed is being doncucted by Uisce Éireann.
Storm-water overflows act as emergency safety valves and release the excess flow from the sewer directly into local waters during times of heavy rainfall.
