An environmental group in Co Mayo has expressed serious concerns over the potential impact on the "Great Western lakes" - Lough Corrib, Lough Mask and Lough Carra - of a 3,700 metre capacity pig slurry storage tank at Frenchill, near Castlebar.
Mayo County Council has granted planning permission for the slurry-holding unit to Glanbia Farms Limited but this has now been appealed to An Bord Pleanála by the Carra, Mask, Carra Water Protection Group. The group says that the over-ground slurry storage tank would pollute a lake system which provides drinking water for thousands of homes in the region.
It also claims that the project would promote the spreading of raw sewerage on agricultural land, a known cause of eutrophication.