Councillors vote in favour of Mutton Island site

GALWAY Corporation is to press ahead with its decision to locate a proposed sewage treatment plant at Mutton Island, after 11 of 15 councillors voted to locate the plant on the island without specifying its design.

The councillors were meeting to consider an undertaking by the Minister for the Environment, Mr Howlin, to finance an underground plant on the island without a causeway to service it - in contrast to the local authority's proposed above-ground design with a causeway, which has encountered strong opposition.

The original Mutton Island plan, if pursued, will however have to be held in abeyance pending the outcome of a case taken by Save Galway Bay group challenging procedures used in choosing the site. The case was adjourned this week in the High Court in Dublin for two weeks, when a date is due to be set for a full hearing.

The European Commission is opposed to an above-ground plant at Mutton Island, which in January prompted Mr Howlin to announce that the Government would finance the plant on its own. He later supported the idea of an underground plant.

This coincided with the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht, Mr Higgins, attempt to forge a behind-the-scenes consensus on location and design. The underground option also raised renewed hopes of EU funding and the possibility of SGB withdrawing its action - but the Commission, it is understood, still has reservations about an underground plant on the island.

In a report to city councillors, the city manager, Mr Joe Gavin, presented six different site options with costings, including mainland sites; the cheapest was the approved above ground scheme at Mutton Island with a causeway - the capital cost of that scheme would be £20 million with annual running costs of £300,000.

The manager warned that it might be necessary soon to erect "no bathing" warning signs at some city beaches because of deteriorating water quality. The EU Urban Waste Treatment Directive required that secondary treatment be in place not later than the year 2000.

The report by the corporation's consulting engineers, P.H. McCarthy and Partners, on the Seghers underground proposal was also considered at the meeting. This concluded that the underground option "as presented, is technically, financially and operationally unacceptable".

During a two-hour debate, some councillors pleaded with SGB to withdraw its court action to facilitate the cleaning-up of Galway Bay while others feared that high running costs of an underground plant would have serious implications for the corporation's finances.

Mr Howlin had confirmed the Government was willing to fund the scheme with or without a causeway, according to Mr Padraic McCormack TD (FG).

It was unfortunate that the Minister had been swayed on the island causeway by political rather than engineering factors, Mr Micheal O hUiginn (FE) said. "Every obstacle has been placed in the way of this very necessary project. If we did decide to go elsewhere, we would meet even more vehement opposition."

In view of the Minister's latest decision on the plant and causeway, the corporation's design was no longer an approved project, Ms Margaret Cox (FF) claimed. A site in Galway docks should be reconsidered, she added.

Two Labour councillors, who are opposed to an above-ground plant, proposed that tenders be sought for the alternative technology (including the underground option) without a causeway. This was defeated by 11 votes to 2 with abstentions by Ms Cox and the mayor, Mr John Mulholland

The corporation's latest stance suggests that it is likely to pursue its original design and face the court action, despite Mr Howlin's willingness to finance a more expensive underground plant.