Thousands of tonnes of sludge, including hazardous chemicals, have been dumped into the River Suir in Waterford without a discharge licence, The Irish Times has confirmed.
Until recently, at least one bulk tanker load of sludge from the washing of containers at Belview Port - located on the Co Kilkenny side of the Suir, eight kilometres downriver from Waterford - was being discharged into the river on a weekly basis.
According to Ms Karin Dubsky, co-ordinator of Coastwatch Europe, the sludge was being taken by tanker to Waterford Port and emptied into a manhole at Frank Cassin wharf, from where it flowed into the river a few metres away. "Pollution has continued on a regular basis for years as a result of this organised, ongoing illegal waste disposal, including hazardous sludges, into a protected estuarine site, and there are zero records of compliance-monitoring," she said.
Local people traced the pollution to a container and bulk tanker washing service company, one of the port industries in Belview, which is controlled by Mr Maurice Downey, a former Fianna Fáil councillor and mayor of Waterford. Belview Container Cleaning Ltd was set up by Mr Downey to offer cleaning services to shipping companies using the Belview container port. The sludge arises as a residue of its operations, but there are no facilities at Belview for its treatment or disposal.
Mr Downey was also chairman of Waterford Harbour Commissioners, which runs Belview Port, from 1992 to 1994. In November 1995, the commissioners obtained a licence from Kilkenny County Council to discharge trade and sewage effluent into the Suir.
However, the licence does not permit the discharge of sludge into the river. Neither does it specify what should be done with the sludge, although one of the conditions stipulates that "no sludge shall be disposed of to landfill without prior authorisation".
The licence also contains monitoring and audit requirements, none of which have been met. Kilkenny County Council was unable to produce any monitoring data or correspondence with Belview Container Cleaning Ltd since the licence was granted over six years ago. A county council spokesman explained that the licence was predicated on the construction of an effluent treatment plant, which was never built. Only a holding tank was constructed and the effluent was "tankered off-site for disposal outside our jurisdiction".
Waterford Corporation confirmed that no licence had been granted for the disposal of sludge in Waterford Port, where the illegal discharges have been taking place. Neither had any licence been obtained to transport the sludge from Belview to Waterford.
According to Ms Dubsky, sludge containing hazardous chemicals would cost €10,000 or more per tanker to ship abroad for incineration. "We are not sure how much illegal dumping into the estuary cost, but serious money could be made out of an operation of this kind," she said.
Mr John Clancy, chief executive of Waterford Port, said he had written to Mr Downey telling him that Belview Container Cleaning Ltd must "desist immediately" from dumping sludge until such time as there was "full compliance" with licensing and planning requirements.
Mr Clancy said yesterday he had no doubt that the company was responsible for the dumping. "The notices served on them by us and by Waterford Corporation have not been contested. It is not a matter of dispute by them or by us," he added.
Mr Downey could not be contacted for comment; a man who answered the telephone at his home said that he was out. Waterford Utility Services Ltd, which emptied the holding tank at Belview last Friday, was also unavailable to answer press queries.
Ms Dubsky warned that if the container-washing operation res-umed, Coastwatch would consider "legal and other options to stop it and highlight the total lack of accountability", as shown by the "quite incredible" absence of any monitoring results.
At the end of January, following a request from Waterford City Council, the Environmental Protection Agency took samples from the sludge discharge point at Frank Cassin wharf in Waterford Port. These were still being analysed yesterday in its Kilkenny laboratory.
"The only word I can use to describe the samples is 'manky'," said Mr Michael Neill, the EPA's south-east regional manager. "We haven't got the results yet, but we suspect the sludge contains creosote, a phenolic compound that should never be discharged to water."
The Suir estuary, including Belview and the old port of Waterford, has been a candidate Special Area of Conservation under the EU Habitats Directive since 1997. But Dúchas, the Heritage Service, has yet to produce conservation objectives or a management plan.