The Environmental Protection Agency has confirmed it is investigating the impact of a discharge of 40,000 litres of unspecified product from the Diageo Brewery in Kilkenny earlier this week.
According to the EPA, the discharge from the brewery into a sewer has resulted in an increase in both the chemical oxygen demand and suspended solids above the licensed limits permitted by the agency.
Diageo, formerly the Smithwicks brewery, confirmed an incident took place last Tuesday: 40,000 litres of liquid in production to be made into beer were inadvertently released to an unused line and overflowed to a waste water drain.
The EPA said the sewer discharges into to the Purcellsinch waste water treatment plant operated by Kilkenny County Council. Agency personnel were working with the council to minimise the impact on the treatment plant. According to the EPA, they learned of the discharge at the St Francis Abbey Brewery by fax from Diageo on Wednesday.
Agency inspectors took samples for analysis and are preparing a report. "The results of this analysis will be reviewed as part of the ongoing investigation. The priority for the EPA is to ensure that the necessary management practices are in place to eliminate the causes of this type of incident and protect the environment," the agency said.
Details were posted on the EPA's website as part of its new policy of notifying the public of any incidents reported to the agency. The decision by the EPA to post such details followed controversy over its handling of a spillage at the ADM plant in Cork in July.
A Diageo spokesman said the incident occurred over about an hour, but engineering works were immediately undertaken to ensure that a similar incident cannot recur.