A pilot treatment plant has been built in Avoca, Co Wicklow to clean the country's most polluted river, it was confirmed today.
Minister for the Environment Dick Roche commissioned the pilot treatment plant as the lower stretches of the river are polluted from discharges from copper mines which have been in the area for over 230 years.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) confirmed the Avoca was the state's most contaminated river when it was analysed for heavy metals.
David Harrington, a senior executive chemist with Wicklow Co Co, said there have been problems for hundreds of years with the stretch of the river from Avoca to Arklow.
"The Avoca mines are near the bottom of the catchment. That is where the contaminated polluted waters are coming out of the mineshaft. When it falls into the river it causes major problems for all life in the river," he said.
The fisheries board has found the river could support a strong salmon population when restored, which Mr Harrington said could boost angling tourism and water recreation activities.