Farmers reject claims that they are main threat to water supply

FARMERS have rejected claims that they are the biggest threat to groundwater supplies in this country.

They were responding to the latest water quality report from the Environmental Protection Agency which claims that run-off from the agricultural industry represented the “greatest threat” to our groundwater.

However, the Irish Farmers’ Association said last night that it was “unfair” to single out the agriculture sector “at a time when many local authority water treatment systems and effluent plants are substandard and require significant upgrading”.