Tipperary councillor raises river concerns as council investigates local discharge

Concerns over the quality of local rivers and the monitoring of discharges were raised by Cllr Séamie Morris at the September meeting of Nenagh Municipal District, with the council subsequently confirming that a discharge into the Nenagh River was linked to ongoing works at the town’s wastewater treatment plant.

Cllr Morris told the meeting that he had received three videos in the previous week showing apparent discharges into local rivers.

He said the rivers were already “very distressed” following the recent drought and called for a full assessment of discharge points entering the Nenagh River and the Clareen River, including the nature of the discharges, whether they were appropriately licensed and how they were being operated.

While acknowledging that the appearance of a discharge did not necessarily mean that anything was wrong, Cllr Morris said he could not assure people that what they were seeing was safe.

The wider discussion also focused on the need for greater action to improve water quality, with concerns raised about nutrient pollution, agricultural run-off and the need for greater involvement from local communities.

Cllr Morris said that reports had identified the importance of reducing nutrient pollution across catchments and argued that the council and communities needed to move from discussion to action.

“I think we need to stop talking on it and get involved in action,” he told the meeting.

Council officials said there are 63 Section 4 discharge licences across Tipperary, with private enterprises discharging to rivers required to operate under licence conditions. Monitoring is carried out in accordance with those licences, while the register of discharges is publicly available.

A specific incident at the Nenagh Wastewater Treatment Plant has since been investigated following a query raised at the meeting.

According to a response from the council’s Environment and Climate Action Section, the discharge into the Nenagh River on September 16 did not originate from the operational wastewater treatment process.

Instead, it occurred during excavation works associated with the ongoing upgrade of the treatment plant.

Groundwater entering an excavation was being pumped through a temporary treatment system before discharge. An unexpected increase in groundwater inflows exceeded the capacity of that system, resulting in inadequate settlement of suspended sediments and the release of partially treated water into the river.

Pumping was stopped immediately once the issue was identified, with the discharge ceasing at approximately 5pm that day.

The council said the discharge consisted primarily of groundwater containing elevated levels of silt and suspended sediment associated with the excavation works, rather than untreated wastewater or sewage effluent.

Water samples were taken upstream, adjacent to and downstream of the discharge point to assess any potential impact on the river.

The council said an initial inspection found no obvious visual evidence of lasting damage, but stressed that the monitoring results and final investigation report would be considered before a final assessment of the environmental significance of the incident is made.

The council is continuing to engage with Uisce Éireann and the project contractors, with measures including a review of temporary treatment capacity, improved dewatering arrangements and enhanced monitoring of excavation works being considered to minimise the risk of a recurrence.

A further update is expected once the outstanding monitoring results and final investigation have been reviewed.