Kerry County Council says it will cost at least a quarter of a million euro to fix oil leaks or spillages at seven of its properties in the Listowel Municipal District.
The information was released following a motion by Fine Gael Cllr Mike Kennelly at the local authority’s monthly meeting.
Kerry County Council says the causes of leaking or discharge of home heating oil at seven of its properties are primarily unknown but a number of potential causes have been identified; initial reviews found no common underlying or connecting cause but this remains under investigation.
The seven cases potentially affect 14 properties, three of which are privately owned.
Remedial works costing €27,000 were completed at one location in January, two years after first being reported.
A case reported in September 2018 will cost almost €45,000 to fix; the contractor had to suspend the work due to COVID-19.
A contractor has been appointed to another location at a cost of €60,000; that was first reported in January 2019.
A further incident in April 2019 will cost over €16,600 and a contractor has been appointed.
Tenders for two more cases, both reported in October 2019, have been delayed due to COVID-19; they will cost €60,000 and €15,000 respectively to fix.
A final case, reported in January 2018, is the subject of an ongoing insurance claim being handled by IPB insurance company; the cost of the remedial work is unknown.
The council says it is expected that all incidents will be resolved by the end of this year.
