A major spillage of up to 30,000 gallons of pig slurry from a midlands piggery is being investigated by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Southern Fisheries Board.
The spillage took place at the Glanbia-operated pig unit at Clonaslee, Co Laois, late last week, it was learned yesterday.
A spokesman for Glanbia said that the spillage had happened when a retaining wall - which had recently been inspected and found to be sound - had collapsed. He said that staff at the piggery, where there are 750 sows and 7,000 fatteners, had worked "creatively" to prevent the slurry from reaching the Barrow.
"They blocked off a watercourse and made a dyke around the spillage and pumped it back into tanks at the farm. We deeply regret the incident happened but are very pleased that a crisis was prevented," he said.
According to local sources, the earthworks around the area prevented the spillage from getting into local watercourses. So far, there has been no damage to the water quality in the area, as it appears the highly toxic material was prevented from entering the tributaries which feed the river Barrow.
Officials from Laois County Council, the EPA and Laois County Council's Environment Section have been monitoring the spillage and the continuing cleanup operation.
A spokesman for the Green Party said that such incidents were bound to happen now that the pig-rearing industry had been taken away from small family farms.
"The big operators have taken over in the industry and are building larger and larger units where pigs are concentrated and are prone to pollute the environment," he said.