Farmer’s frustration over Kells stream ‘sewage’ spill

A KELLS farmer has accused both Irish Water and Meath County Council of passing the buck, as a stream on her land fills up with sewerage waste.

The horrific sight of sanitary waste and baby wipes clogging up the stream is a cause of real concern or Rosaleen Gallagher.
“The smell is absolutely dreadful, really desperate,” she said.
She depends on the Newrath stream running through her land as a source of drinking water for her horses, but it has been badly polluted by sewerage.
“I depend on that stream for my animals, but now it is full of raggings - wipes, sanitary products and toilet paper. 
“I now have to carry water out to the horses when I am feeding them. I got on to the council and they told me it was a problem for Irish Water and when I got onto Irish Water they referred me to Meath County Council. I am getting the runaround - going round in circles,” she said.
Rosaleen's land is located between several housing estates and the sewerage treatment works in Kells. 
“The stream runs along by Grand Priory and the green area in Headfort Woods,” she explained.
“It seems to be an historic problem. I had noticed it smelling badly every now and again, but last Saturday week there was a huge discharge of pure sewerage into it. It smelled absolutely dreadful and the water was just so dirty,”
She said that last Sunday night there was another very bad incident.
“It was very smelly and dirty at around 5pm on Sunday night,”
“For some reason it seems that the big spills seem to be happening on the weekend, when I can never get onto anyone about it. 
“It is disgusting and as well as being a problem for me and my farm - this stream flows into the Blackwater river,” she pointed out.
Ms Gallagher said that she received a phonecall on Monday morning to say someone was coming out to assess the situation and what the ground is like in that area.
“Meath County council's Environmental Department should be policing this. It is very important the stream is cleared. It is needs to be cleaned,” she said.
A statement from Irish Water said both the utility and Meath County Council were investigating a report of sewage pollution in Newrath Stream at Headfort, Kells.
“While the investigation into the cause of the pollution is underway, Irish Water has offered an alternative water supply for animal welfare purposes. Irish Water is committed to safeguarding the environment and ensuring all wastewater is correctly treated and is safely returned to rivers, lakes and sea.”