State faces EU fines over river quality

THE State risks being fined millions of euro and another appearance before the European Court of Justice for environmental breaches if it fails to reduce the levels of phosphorous polluting Irish rivers.

That was the warning issued to farmers yesterday by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) environmental enforcement director Dr Dara Lynott.

“Almost 40% of our rivers are polluted with phosphorus, which comes from the run-off of farm fertilisers and if we fail to clean this up and comply with EU directives we could face millions of euro in fines in the European Court of Justice,” Dr Lynott said.