Dublin People - Sewage spill kills fish

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Sewage spill kills fish

Friday, 04 April 2008

STAFF from the Eastern Fisheries Board moved swiftly last week to save a large number of fish that had been affected by raw sewage leaking into a river at a Northside park.
Dublin City Council has confirmed that a blocked pipe led to the sewage entering the river at St Anne’s Park, killing a limited number of fish and eels.
Members of the public who had become concerned about the foul smell and white slime coming from the river alerted the city council to the problem.
A spokeswoman for the council told Northside People that the sewage leak had been caused by a blockage in a pipe in the Brookwood area of Artane.
She said the council immediately set to work on clearing the blockage and the problem had now been fixed.

However, the spokeswoman was uncertain as to how long it would take for the sewage to be fully cleared from the river.
“That could depend on the weather but if there was any rainfall then it would clear much quicker,” she said.
Brian Beckett, environmental officer with the Eastern Fisheries Board, who attended the scene, said a large number of fish had to be taken from the duck pond.
“While we are awaiting a full report from the city council, it was clear that the river at St Anne’s Park was carrying a substantial amount of contamination,” Mr Beckett told Northside People.
“This contamination was fed from the river into the nearby duck pond, decreasing the oxygen levels in the pond which killed a number of fish including Roach and Pike and a lot of eels.”
However, Mr Beckett said a total fish kill at the pond had been avoided.
“We managed to completely remove a large amount of live fish from the pond which we hope to be able to put back there once the problem has been cleared,” he added.
Meanwhile, Kilbarrack resident Des Bolger, who regularly takes walks in the park, told Northside People he was shocked and disgusted at the extent of the problem.
“I had noticed during my regular walks that there was a foul smell coming from the river for at least three weeks leading up to this,” Mr Bolger said.
“You could also see that the whole riverbed was covered in a white slime and it was obvious that it had been seriously contaminated.”
Mr Bolger said he contacted the council about the problem last Tuesday (March 25).
“In fairness to the council, they did act immediately once they knew there was a problem, but I am surprised that they did not know about it before then,” he stated.
“It was terrible to see the dead fish and eels in the duck pond.
“There have only been about three ducks at the pond where normally there would be over a hundred of them.
“It is deplorable how this could have happened, but I was glad to see that the city council and the Fisheries Board were making efforts to clear it up and save the rest of the fish,” Mr Bolger added.

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