Judge`s threat to jail county manager over sewage spill
Maximum fine imposed on council over incident
"I`VE no doubts that if the county manager was joined as a defendant, I`d put him in jail for deliberately pouring raw sewage into a river," Judge John Coughlan warned at Kells Court last week.
The maximum fine of €1,250 was twice imposed on Meath County Council after the local authority pleaded guilty to two counts of discharging sludge effluent into the river Inny, beside the Oldcastle sewerage station, on 26th March and 17th April last.
The judge also directed the council to pay a total of €3,316.69 costs and expenses to the Shannon Regional Fisheries Board in respect of the two offences. Ms Miriam Regan, solicitor, entered guilty pleas on behalf of the council, and Mr George Moloney, the board`s solicitor, withdrew four related charges.
Board officer Brenda Montgomery told the court of inspecting the sewerage works on 26th March last. It discharged into a tributary of the river Inny which flowed into Lough Sheelin, a very important trout fishery.
While she was taking routine samples, the water turned "brownish green suddenly" and there was a dramatic increase in flow. She took separate dissolved oxygen (BOD) and suspended solids (SS) readings then and within 15 minutes. The proper readings for BOD should be four and between 20-25 for SS, but the samples were analysed as high as 1,065 and 2,353.4, respectively.
The second day`s results were lower but she described the first SS figure as "astronomical" and described the water as "grossly polluted".
She spoke that first day to sewerage works caretaker Gerry McCabe who told her that he had turned off the sludge return wheel to let the sludge settle in the tank but that this had the effect of raising the level of sludge, giving it a flushing effect on accumulation overnight.
When she stressed the importance of this not happening again, the caretaker told her that the system was "overloaded and (such spillages were) likely to happen". It was a very old plant, added Ms Montgomery.
The caretaker was not in court but the then area engineer was, said Ms Regan, to which the judge said he was missing "the guy who caused the problem".
Mr Moloney said that he understood the council had problems with the overloaded system and told the judge that people did not swim in the river concerned. The council had a previous conviction for the same offence there on 10th August 2005.
"The county manager is the organ grinder - why is he not here?" asked the judge. Told by Mr Moloney that the board would not have expected the manager`s attendance, Judge Coughlan responded: "Your expectations are pretty low." He warned that he would issue an arrest warrant for the county manager if the council appeared before him again on such a charge.
Former area engineer Tom Traynor told the court that the Oldcastle works was an old treatment plant, which was due for modernisation. The judge said he was not interested in systems but in why the caretaker "deliberately opened a sluice and let raw sewage into the river".
The system required certain maintenance works, said the engineer, who denied that the sewage had been poured into the tributary deliberately. This had occurred when the caretaker was carrying out de-sludging, as they had to get "as much sludge out as possible".
Ms Regan told the court that plans were underway to put in a new system but the judge demanded to see the Act to see if he could jail anyone. Subsequently, her colleague, Mr Rory McEntee, solicitor, arrived with a copy of the Act and Mr Moloney confirmed the maximum fine and said that no-one could be jailed if they were not a named defendant.
The judge agreed and imposed the monetary penalties, telling Ms Regan to write to the county manager with his views.
