Polluters not being punished, says EPA chief

THE courts are failing to punish those accused of serious environmental pollution, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

The environmental watchdog admitted there are serious shortfalls in enforcement of protection laws and that the EPA is being compromised in its attempts to make those responsible for environmental pollution accountable.

The EPA director general Dr Mary Kelly yesterday told the Sherkin Island marine station’s 23rd annual environmental conference it was very difficult to win prosecutions, particularly in the higher courts, against those accused of serious environmental pollution.

“There is no point in using all your resources in what they (the courts) would see as trivial matters. In fact we would not win,” Dr Kelly said.

She said they were therefore focusing on trying to establish compliance as their priority so that companies and individuals would not breach environmental laws in the first place.

The conference in Carrigaline in Cork was told that despite the fact legislation allows for fines of up to€15 million and/or 10 years in prison, the maximum fine that has ever been issued is €120,000.

The absence of huge fines is in spite of the fact that Ireland, in the last EU standings, was one of the worst for compliance with European legislation on environmental protection and enforcement.

Water treatment and waste management are the areas where Ireland appears to be most at fault.

“Despite the huge investment leading to measurable improvements in the environmental arena in the past decade, under-investment over many years in areas such as waste management, waste water treatment and drinking water treatment has left us in a catch-up situation which is less than optimal,” said Dr Kelly.

She said the investment from the last two National Development Plans needs to be kept up and, as a country, Ireland needed to take a much more proactive approach.

“This investment in infrastructure needs to continue until such time as all drinking water treatment plants, urban waste water treatment plants and waste management facilities are operating at the standards now demanded by Irish citizens and required by the EU.

The EPA itself has assumed a number of new roles which it hopes will give it greater powers to make a difference to the environment.

She said new regulatory control had been assigned to it in the last two weeksin the area of drinkingwater and waste water treatment.

“The EPA will have responsibility for overseeing the provision of drinking water by statutory authorities”, Dr Kelly said.

In addition, new legislation has meant that later in the year the EPA will have power over urban waste water treatment and discharge licensing by local authorities.