OPW contractor pays out €10k for flood relief work that caused fish kill on Bandon River

The €10,000 paid to Inland Fisheries Ireland is to be used for habitat rehabilitation and improvement works

Some of the flood protection measures on the River Bandon which had one of the country’s largest ever flood relief schemes. File picture: Larry Cummins

A State-appointed contractor on one of the country’s largest ever flood relief schemes has paid €10,000 to Inland Fisheries Ireland to boost river habitats after a court had earlier found it was responsible for a fish kill.

Wills Bros Ltd of Foxford in Co. Mayo had been prosecuted by Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) over an incident on May 10, 2017, on the Bandon River in Co. Cork, in which it was alleged that as many as 200 fish were killed when a pool — formed by the construction of a haul road in the river — rapidly lost water.

Wills Bros was contracted for the physical works by the Office of Public Works and the long-running case, which first heard evidence in February 2018, was told it was the largest flood relief project in Europe when it began in early May 2017. 

Two other companies — Byrne Looby Ltd, project design specialists, and Rivus Ltd, ecological specialist engaged by Wills Bros — had, like Wills Bros, denied a charge under the Fisheries (Consolidation) Act 1959 as amended, of injuring or disturbing the spawn or fry of salmon, trout or eels.

But in July last year, Judge Mary Dorgan said the case against Wills Bros had been proven beyond reasonable doubt, while she dismissed the charge against Byrne Looby and Rivus. Judge Dorgan also asked the Probation Service to explore a potential restorative justice solution.

The fish kill

The matter returned before Bandon District Court last week, with the judge told that Wills Bros had provided €10,000 to Inland Fisheries Ireland for what were described as habitat rehabilitation and improvement works.

The long-running case had heard that hundreds of fish may have been killed in the incident, though the figure was disputed and the charge only related to salmon, trout and eel.

The court had heard evidence that while haul roads had previously been constructed tight to the bank, the presence of a fish stand, which was a protected structure, meant on the day of the incident a separate pooled area was formed, although water levels meant there had been no concern of fish being trapped earlier.

However, the porous nature of the material around the pool, and dredging nearby, resulted in a rapid loss of water. A report by Rivus the day after the incident suggested more than 30 salmon fry, 20-plus trout and 20-plus grass eels were trapped, alongside stone loach and lamprey.

Mitigation works

Following last Friday’s court appearance, Inland Fisheries Ireland said it did not wish to make an extensive comment as some matters had yet to be resolved, but it said the €10,000 provided to it by Wills Bros would be used to improve spawning habitats in tributaries of the Bandon River and would help mitigate some of the impact of the flood relief scheme.

The fresh works must be concluded by next March and the matter will return to the court on March 29 next, with the issue of costs yet to be finalised. In finding Wills Bros guilty in July last year, Judge Dorgan said Wills Bros was not indemnified against prosecution.

The judge had also criticised the Office of Public Works over flood relief works on the Bandon River, claiming the State body "owes a duty of care" to the Irish people and that it could not just be a case of "getting a chunk of money from the Government”.

"I hope this might be a lesson to the OPW when there are other works that they are very honest and transparent," she said at the time.