EU wants action on pig-rearing, Derrybrien and Nitrates Directive
Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said: “I welcome Ireland’s decision taken in 2003 to apply throughout its territory an action programme to reduce water pollution by nitrates from farming. However, the programme needs serious strengthening in key areas if it is to contribute successfully to securing clean water for Irish citizens and to satisfying the March 2004 ruling of the Court of Justice.”
Last March, Ireland was condemned by the European Court of Justice for failing to designate zones vulnerable to nitrate pollution and adopt an action programme to reduce surface and groundwater pollution caused by chemical fertilizers and animal manures.
The Commission welcomed Ireland’s 2003 decision to treat its whole territory as nitrate-vulnerable, but now says the action programme submitted last October is not compliant with the Directive.
In particular, proposed mandatory liquid manure storage periods and prohibited periods for land-spreading are seen as too short, posing the danger of slurry run-off, due to spreading when plants are not growing.
The Commission has sent Ireland a first warning letter, asking it to comply with the Court judgment, or face the threat of substantial fines.
In seven other cases, the Commission has gone to the next stage, sending Ireland final written warnings. Without satisfactory responses, the Commission may refer these cases to the Court of Justice.
They concern:
*Delays in upgrading waste-water treatment for six towns
*Unsatisfactory rules for preventing malodours from urban waste-water treatment plants, and for ensuring that domestic waste-water treatment systems do not harm the environment
*Disposal of construction waste from the Tynagh Mines in Co Galway
*Failure to remove waste from and restore wetlands in the Boyne Estuary special protection area
*Failure to report on use of ozone-depleting substances, including methyl bromide pesticide
*Failure to submit a plan to meet national emission limits for certain air pollutants
*And not correctly implementing the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive. The Commission says pig-rearing is one of the project for which an EIA is needed. It specifically noted that Irish authorities made no commitment to carrying out a fresh EIA, including consultation of the public, before resumption of work at Derrybrien, Co Galway, where work on Ireland’s largest wind-farm project in October 2003 caused a two kilometres landslide of more than a half million cubic metres of peat, damaging property and killing 50,000 fish.
