'Full transparency and accountability' needed over discharge at Blue Flag beach

A Meath county councillor for the Laytown/Bettystown Municipal Area has described a major storm overflow pipe discharge onto the dunes of Mornington beach as an 'environmental scandal and is demanding ‘full transparency and accountability needed on what exactly is going on with discharges onto our beaches and into our coastal waters’

Cllr Stephen McKee made his remarks following the burst, on Friday afternoon (30th January), of a storm water overflow pipe which led to a significant discharge flowing into the dunes area of Mornington near Laytown and Bettystown Golf Course.

Uisce Eireann are understood to be meeting with Meath County Council tomorrow (Tuesday, 3rd February) to discuss the logistics of carrying out repair works.

Foul smelling water could be seen bubbling up through the sands on the Blue Flag beach, on Saturday an area of conservation that is used by local families and visitors alike with Cllr McKee claiming the effulent contained "raw sewage" and "posed a significant risk to human health and the environment."

"We have to bring this into sharp focus and we need full transparency, not only of how this happened but what exactly is being discharged into our coastal waters, how much and how often.’

"I understand that Uisce Eireann are meeting with Meath County Council on Tuesday, 3rd February to discuss the logistics of carrying out repair works. But we also need to know what the full picture is in relation to this issue.’

"Uisce Eireann has advised that pumping of storm water through the damaged storm pipe has ceased and surcharging at the beach has stopped. That may be the case, but what they fail to say is where the overflow has been redirected to. I have heard reports that there are foul smells coming from Mornington river at the back of the Pumping Station. The public has a right to know if raw sewage is now being pumped into this body of water.

"It is a scandal that an area of outstanding natural beauty is being treated in such a way and we need solutions and assurances that such an incident will not happen again," concluded McKee.

A local resident noticed the spillage while out walking his dog along the beach before 11am on Friday morning.

Joe Hoyne said he investigated the spill after detecting a 'horrendous stench' and saw what he believes was sewage flowing over an 800m stretch of the protected dunes.

"I was out walking my dog as usual this morning and there was a horrible smell along the beach before I came across the spill from a fractured pipe. Loads of people walk or run this route and many others out walking were also commenting on the horrendous stench.

"This brown sludge spilled over an area of the dunes with crests and troughs and settled in pools in the troughs. I've lived here almost thirty years and noticed this pipe over 20 years ago. I reported a smaller burst of the same pipe about a year ago and it was fixed but the pipe obviously can't handle the volume."