The continuing bogslide in Derrybrien, Co Galway could result in over 100,000 fish being killed, it was claimed today.
Mr Eamon Cusack CEO of Shannon Region Fisheries Board said liquified peat slurry has travelled down and entered the Lough Cutra, "choking the fish and any life that is in the river".
"Over 100,000 fish could be killed by the time the bogslide finishes," Mr Cusack said.
The Owendalulleegh river which flows into Lough Cutra is one of the last natural wild brown trout rivers in Ireland.
"This type of activity has a knock-on impact on angling tourism which has declined in numbers over the last number of years," Mr Cusack said.
However he did say he hoped that work carried out by the Galway County Council and the ESB subsidary, Hibernian Wind Power, would lessen the impact on Lough Cutra.
Today 40 workers, 12 excavation machines and six trucks are being moved in by Hibernian Wind Power to the area to try to slow the bogslide and reopen raods and bridges.
Heavy rain last night caused the bogslide to breach barriers already erected to halt the slide.
"The rain is causing major problems at the moment. The people are worried and they just don't know what has happened," one resident of the village said.
Meanwhile, the Fine Gael Galway East TD, Mr Paul Connaughton, has called on the Minister for the Environment to intervene personally in the Derrybrien landslide saga.
"If this phenomenon continues to spew millions of gallons of black, sticky mud down onto roadways and streams, thousands of people could lose their farms, businesses and homes. An urgent action plan must be put in place immediately." He said.
"Had this landslide happened in a location near Dublin, the Taoiseach and his Ministers would be giving it the same attention as the flooding which happened in Drumcondra received last year. It appears that because it is the West of Ireland it is being ignored." He added.
