AN example will have to be made of farmers who continue to pollute waterways with farm effluents, Dr Padraic Larkin, manager of the licensing and control section of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), said.
At an EPA conference in Cork, attended by 30 delegates representing the EU network for the implementation and Enforcement of Environmental Law (Impel), Dr Larkin said that the EPA would not hesitate to prosecute farmers who failed to heed messages about pollution effects.
Some non-governmental agencies, such as Greenpeace, emphasised the EPA's role as a prosecuting agency, he said, but it also had a significant role in educating interest groups such as farmers and industry, to ensure a co operative approach to environmental protection.
He went on. We have to keep pumping out the message to farmers that farm effluents, such as silage, are dangerous. We have to revise our approach because the old command and control system doesn't work any more. While we do not want to develop a megaphone diplomacy style of control, at the same time we want to make it clear to farmers that just because a substance comes from grass does not mean that it isn't dangerous."
For those who don't heed that message, he said, "an example should be made".
The recent serious fish kill in Cork was an example of how the environment could be damaged by farm effluent.
Dr Larkin said the Cork conference, which was part of an ongoing exchange of views between EU environmental agencies, had reinforced the EPA's opinion that its controls were working, despite the fact that environmental protection could never have sufficient resources. The conference had pointed out that what were regarded as large industries in this State were considered small to medium in Europe.
Mr Rob Glaser, of the Netherlands Protection Agency, said that the purpose of the Impel network was to create a greater awareness among the EU agencies of pan European environmental problems and how better responses could be developed.
For a three year old agency with limited manpower, the EPA had achieved "remarkable" results, he added. It was important that in tandem with its new licensing power, the EPA had introduced environmental management systems to develop an inclusive approach to environmental protection.
Dr Darkin said the EPA was satisfied that its monitoring of industry through the network of regional laboratories and a mobile laboratory was adequate. Many countries in Europe allowed industry to self monitor, but the EPA would continue to send inspectors on site without announcing the visit in advance, as a further deterrent, he added.