THE Save Galway Bay group has expressed surprise at Galway Corporation's decision to seek £1 million to extend the city's main discharge pipe going into Galway Bay in an effort to ease growing problems arising from the discharge of raw sewage.
The Save Galway Bay (SGB) spokesman, Mr John Cunningham, dismissed the move as a temporary measure unlikely to do the job envisaged cleaning up the bay. He claimed it suggested the corporation was not willing to consider a compromise on the design and location of the controversial £23 million sewage treatment plant proposed for Mutton Island.
The £1 million pipe scheme has dampened hopes that the corporation might immediately reconsider technology options, primarily a plan to locate the plant underground. The authority has, however, commissioned a report on an alternative.
The statement by city manager, Mr Joe Gavin, that the Department of the Environment regards the new proposal by Seghers Engineering as untenable meant there was little point in SGB meeting the corporation.
"The effect of this rejection is clearly part of the game plan to ensure the corporation gets its way in locating the plant on Mutton Island over ground as originally proposed," Mr Cunningham said.
Meanwhile, the issue is back with the corporation following confirmation that the Government is likely to support any local consensus on design and location. The Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht, Mr Higgins, confirmed he would facilitate a compromise.
