THERE were widespread calls yesterday for more stringent action against polluters following the massive fish kill on the Rivers Martin and Shournagh in Co Cork.
More than 3,000 brown trout and salmon parr were wiped out last Wednesday and Thursday.
Thousands of gallons of slurry escaped into the River Martin as a farmer near Blarney was siphoning it from a tank.
The slurry caused oxygen deprivation on Wednesday night and Thursday as it passed from the Martin into the adjoining Shournagh and into the River Lee system, about a mile below Cork city's water treatment plant.
On Thursday morning and afternoon there was some concern that the water supply to the city would be affected, but early monitoring showed that ammonia levels in the Lee never exceeded the danger mark of 0.7 parts per million. A reading above this level would have forced Cork Corporation to shut down the plant and curtail supplies to domestic consumers as well as heavy industry.
Yesterday, Mr Jack Higgins, the Cork city manager, said that by 6 p.m. on Thursday the threat had been averted.
Mr Hugh Coveney, the Minister of State at the Department of Finance, who runs an extensive tillage farm in the Minane bridge area of Cork, said yesterday that farmers who caused pollution were guilty of an anti social act.
Where it was shown that carelessness was the cause of pollution, the full weight of the law should be applied, he said. Ms Mairin Quill, of the Progressive Democrats, called for stricter sanctions against polluters, while Mr Gerry Boland, Green Party spokesman on the environment, said the latest incident highlighted the unsuitability of modern farming practices.
Calling for harsher penalties Mr Boland said: "Fines are a necessary part of the process to stop all incidents of fish kills".
However, the ICMSA insisted that "the vast majority of farmers exercise great care for the environment and spend substantial sums of money on anti pollution systems".
Mr Maurice Harvey, chairman of the ICMSA's farm services committee, urged the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Yates, to restore the Control of Farmyard Pollution Scheme. He also advocated changes to "the crippling tax system, which is a major barrier to farmers carrying out necessary anti pollution capital works on their holdings".
Although the fish kill on Martin and the Shournagh seriously depleted stocks, South Western Regional Fisheries Board told The Irish yesterday that farmed fish not be introduced to restore rivers.
"The best policy is to allow the rivers to regenerate naturally", said Mr Patrick Buck, the assistant manager of the board, added that the introduction of farm stocks could cause "genetic pollution."
Experience had shown, he said, that when farmed fish were introduced into the wild they coped badly with the environment, showing higher rates of mortality and diminished growth levels.
The River Martin suffered a serious pollution incident five years ago and had only just recovered when this week's slurry spill occurred. Last summer, some 4,000 fish were killed on the River Shournagh when a slurry pit collapsed.
In 1994, there were 11 fish kills in the southern and south western fishery board areas. Last year, the number increased to 32, while the figure for the country as a whole was 84, compared with 32 in 1994.
The principal cause of fish kills last year was enrichment of waterways due to chemical additives and algal blooms - 21 incidents. Agriculture was the next highest cause, accounting for 19 incidents.
Under the 1987 Water Pollution (Amendment) Bill the maximum fine for pollution on summary conviction was increased from £250 to £1,000, and to £500 from £100 for every day on which the contravention continues.
A new maximum penalty on conviction on indictment was also introduced, increasing the fine from £5,000 to £25,000 and from £500 to £5,000 for each day of the contravention. This fine, applicable in the higher courts, also carries an alternative sanction of imprisonment for five years.
Last night, the South Western Regional Fisheries Board confirmed that two further pollution incidents in the west Cork area were being investigated.
One occurred on an unnamed stream, one and a half miles long, close to Howes Strand, near Kilbrittain, in west Cork, and the other was in Skibbereen, on the River Ilen.