Council escapes €500,000 water fines

A COURT charge was struck out yesterday against a local authority that permitted drinking water to bypass a temporary treatment plant for the bug, cryptosporidium.

Clare County Council escaped, for now, the prospect of facing potential fines of up to €500,000.

The case was struck out by Judge Joseph Mangan at Ennis District Court yesterday although the council previously indicated a guilty plea would be entered.

The council’s solicitor, Rachel Dobson, advised the court the decision to strike out came from the Director of Public Prosecutions.

A DPP spokeswoman declined to comment yesterday stating it did not comment on individual cases. However, an Environmental Protection Agency spokeswoman confirmed last night that it has forwarded a separate file on the case to the DPP.

The striking out of the prosecution follows Judge Mangan transferring, in September last, the case to a higher court due to the seriousness of the charge.

The maximum fine allowed in the District Court is €5,000 and the council was facing potential fines of up to €500,000 in the Circuit Court.

The charge related to a breach of an EPA directive for the council to cease the practice of allowing water bypass a temporary treatment plant for treatment for cryptosporidium from May 1 to October 21 last year.

The treatment plant services the Ennis area.

As a result of the alleged breach, 25% of the water supply was unfiltered for cryptosporidium and this was also against the background of a partial boil notice in place in Ennis since June 2005 due to an outbreak of the disease.

The council allowed the water go through untreated last year after facing the prospect of not having adequate water supplies to serve Ennis General Hospital and its reservoirs running dry.

The Health Service Executive (HSE) supported the council’s decision to allow the water be untreated, taking the view that it was preferable to have a supply where the water was contaminated and people could flush their toilets rather than an inadequate supply.

Clare County Councillor Brian Meaney (Green) said: “The council had very little choice in allowing the water go through the system untreated for cryptosporidium.

“It was the lesser of two evils: allowing untreated water go through or creating a public health risk by having little or no water at all for the hospitals, homes and businesses in Ennis.

“The council staff operated in good faith and always admitted that they breached the directive. They were not hiding anything.”

The council stated it was not in a position to comment yesterday due to personnel dealing with the ongoing flooding crisis in Clare. However, it stated it was hopeful the partial boil notice would be lifted in early January after all tests for its new water treatment plant have proven positive.