Irish Water was prosecuted last year for discharging inadequately treated waste water in Abbeydorney.
The North Kerry village is one of 42 areas the Environmental Protection Agency is prioritising, as improvements are needed to prevent waste water from harming water courses.
The details are revealed in the EPA’s Urban Waste Water Treatment in 2020 report, which has been published today.
The EPA is prioritising 42 areas nationwide, where improvements are needed to prevent waste water from harming rivers, lakes, estuaries, and coastal waters; Abbeydorney and Tralee are named.
Abbeydorney is one of 29 of those areas that Irish Water doesn’t have a clear plan and time frame to resolve the risk of pollution.
The EPA says Irish Water was prosecuted and fined €2,000 last year, for discharging inadequately treated waste water from Abbeydorney.
It related to an incident on or about August 30th 2017, when one or more specified discharges from the waste water works exceeded emission limits.
Also in it Urban Waste Water Treatment in 2020 report, the EPA lists 12 towns and villages where waste water treatment must improve, to help protect freshwater pearl mussels; Kilgarvan is included.
The EPA notes that environmental monitoring is ongoing in Kilgarvan to determine if recent improvements to waste water treatment are sufficient to protect freshwater pearl mussels.
The agency also states that Irish Water must complete overdue assessments of the impacts of waste water discharges on 25 designated shellfish waters, including five in Kerry; Cromane, Maherees, Tralee Bay, Valentia Harbour, and the Kenmare River.
