Sewage affected oysters, court told

More than 950 people who had eaten oysters grown at a fishery in Cork harbour got food poisoning after untreated sewage was discharged…

More than 950 people who had eaten oysters grown at a fishery in Cork harbour got food poisoning after untreated sewage was discharged into the area, it was alleged in the High Court yesterday. The claims are denied.

In 1992, Atlantic Shellfish Ltd began an action against Cork County Council, the Minister for the Marine and the State, claiming that sewage from the Midleton sewerage scheme, which started up in 1988, contaminated its oysters, led to food poisoning of customers and to serious financial losses.

This action was settled and included payment of €500,000 in damages. The council also undertook to introduce a secondary waste-water treatment plant for Midleton. But Atlantic claimed that the 1996 deal was breached and that no secondary waste-water treatment plant incorporating ultra-violet disinfection facilities operated in Midleton before June 2000. In those circumstances, Atlantic says it is entitled to continue legal proceedings. Complaints of illnesses had risen from the time of the 1996 agreement and the fishery was closed from January to July 2001.

In March 2002, the council admitted to massive overflows of untreated effluent from the sewerage system into the estuary, the firm said. It closed again in June 2002 and remains closed. The proceedings before the High Court yesterday concerned an application by the firm to overturn a ruling of the Master of the High Court refusing discovery orders for documents relating to the case.