Louth County Council faces a High Court injunction next week over allegedoil contamination of water and soil. Joe Humphreys reports.
Louth County Council faces a High Court action next week over its alleged role in the pollution of water and soil at Carrickarnon, immediately south of the Border.
A land-owning family in the area claims the council caused oil pollution to the Flurry River and up to eight acres of neighbouring lands because of drainage works on the N1 Dublin-Belfast Road.
Dublin-based solicitor Mr Peter McDonnell, who is representing the family, said it would apply for an injunction in the High Court next week to stop "the continuing spillage" of oil in the area, and to force those responsible to clean up the river and land.
Lawyers for the family said Louth County Council would be the subject of initial proceedings. However, they said subsequent proceedings were planned against three oil companies which operated in the area.
Mr David Byrnes, a member of the family taking the case, said the contamination began six to seven years ago when oil companies began to use land in the area for oil storage and dumping. Last October, the issue came to a head when the N1 flooded and oil spread on to the road, creating dangerous driving conditions.
Remedial works were initiated by the council but, said Mr Byrnes, these merely spread the environmental problem to neighbouring lands. He said the council pumped oil directly on to his land, first into a ditch, and later sprayed it across the soil.
A report commissioned by Mr Byrnes, and conducted by Dundalk-based investigators Microclean Environmental Ltd, found hydrocarbon (fossil fuel) contamination in water and soil samples. In one instance, concentrations exceeded a safety standard by approximately 129 times.
Louth County Council, however, denies contamination has taken place. Its senior executive officer for the environment, Mr Joe McGuinness, said samples had been tested at the Environmental Protection Agency's laboratories in Monaghan and "no contamination and no oil is evident" on Mr Byrnes's land, nor in the river.
He noted there had been oil leakages on a neighbouring site where the oil companies operated. However, the companies in question had undertaken to "remediate" the site. "Once the issue arose they moved swiftly and engaged an engineer and we are happy with the progress to date."
He said drainage works undertaken by the council late last year "did seem to create an element of movement of oil" to the Byrnes's lands. However, the local authority had since installed a "baffle wall" interceptor which, he said, stopped oil from crossing on to the lands. "No oil has been picked up in the baffle wall which we think proves our point about there being no contamination."
Mr Byrnes questioned the effectiveness of the interceptor, however. He noted proof of the contamination could be seen in the death of fish and wildlife in the area.
"You just have to look around to see the damage. When there's no wind, the smell of oil here is just terrible."
A number of local residents expressed concerns about possible negative health effects, and one has claimed to have found traces of oil in his domestic water.
In addition, a doctor treating Mr Byrnes's brother claimed in a letter in August 1999 to the council that the pollution was a "major factor" in his patient's "deteriorating health". Mr Byrnes noted other complaints were made in preceding years "but we got nowhere. It got so bad, we gave up complaining for a while".
In addition to requesting an end to local authority drainage works in the area, the family is to ask the High Court to demand that the council honours its duties under the Water Pollution Act and other environmental legislation.
A spokesman for one of the oil companies said it always operated in a responsible manner, and in compliance with health and safety regulations. A spokeswoman for a second company said it was making no comment to the media. No one was available from the third company to comment.