More than four decades of pollution of the Shannon estuary is set to end following the securing of planning permission by Aer Rianta for sewage treatment facilities to serve Shannon Airport.
Aer Rianta opened the airport's €35 million terminal building in 2000 without sewage treatment works, resulting in the continued pumping of 100,000 cubic metres of untreated sewage into the Shannon estuary, a proposed Special Area of Conservation, each year.
The requirement to provide sewage treatment facilities was one of the conditions attached to the planning permission by Clare Co Council. The failure by Aer Rianta to provide such facilities resulted in an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) investigation into waste issues at Shannon Airport.
Along with the EPA identifying the scale of pollution involved, two separate court cases have been taken against the airport operator arising from the absence of sewerage works with a district court prosecution by the Shannon Regional Fisheries Board due to be heard next month.
The council yesterday granted planning permission for the proposal, stating that the plan "is a critical element of the long-term operation and proper management of Shannon Airport".
