The Stradbally Environmental Protection Group was formed to co-ordinate opposition to a proposed piggery in Rathnaskillogue. The group claimed the piggery's impact, if it was granted an IPC licence, would be catastrophic - with up to two million gallons of slurry being spread on 3,500 acres of countryside.
It emphasised the area's vulnerability as an important aquifer along the south coast of Waterford between Dungarvan and Tramore. An aquifer is a layer of rock or soil that holds or transmits large quantities of water.
Meanwhile, Copper Coast Tourism, a Leader-backed local tourist initiative, chaired by Mr John Galloway has been awarded Geo Park Status by the EU - to be ratified in September for the area coinciding with the aquifer.
Similar status under this two-year-old initiative has been conferred on areas of geological merit such as a petrified forest on the Greek island of Lesbos and a volcanic area of Germany, said Mr Galloway.
The application, backed by Waterford Tourism and the Leader board focused on "geo sites" - under scientific, aesthetic, ecological, archaeological and cultural headings.
The EU, on reviewing the application, said the aquifer was significant because of its diversity and variety of rock. It considered the ecology and the environment in the area to be "vulnerable" and required "sustained protection".
The hard, non-porous and fractured rock dates from the Ordovician era, 500 million years ago, which produced evidence of the first vertebrates and marine invertebrates.
Tests carried out by Waterford County Council - which abandoned plans in 1999 to locate a landfill site on the area of the proposed piggery - confirmed farming practices were causing nitrate pollution of groundwater resources.
Additional slurry from the piggery could swell these levels of pollution.
Under the EU's Nitrate Directive, plans should be implemented by the council in respect of the nitrate pollution.
Ireland is to be prosecuted for non-compliance, the EU Environment Commission informed the Government last week.
A spokesman for the Department of the Environment yesterday said action plans to deal with nitrate pollution would be in place before the end of the year.
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