Pollution 'nauseating'- Ó hOisín

MAYOR of Limavady, Cathal Ó'hOisÍn has said the discovery of pollution at a tributary of the Roe running through Dungiven is the worst case he has ever seen.

"It's nauseating," said Cllr hOisn. "Unfortunately, it has been used as a dumping ground. There's a major environmental issue there."

Overturned, rusted shopping trolleys lie surrounded by bin bags stuffed full of rotting household debris while thousands of broken alcohol bottles carpet the river banks.

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There is also evidence of fires in the area, known locally as 'The Plantation', which sits next to a church.

"This area has been a cause for concern for a considerable time in respect of the underage drinking and associated vandalism," said a concerned Cllr hOisn, who believes the area needs a professional risk assessment and cleaning.

"The Presbyterian Church and the elders have been tortured and, indeed, elected representatives have tried to move on young ones on occasions. Historically it's been allowed to develop. Unfortunately, much of the banks are in private ownership and Limavady Council can't do much and it's hard to know where the rubbish comes from. "

He urged: "My appeal is for people always to use the excellent recycling facilities we have and take care of our environment because that's our heritage."

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Limavady Borough Council say they are looking in to the ownership of the private property "with a view to getting them to clean it".

'Milky'

To make matters worse untreated sewage from a pumping station on the Hass Road, Dungiven flowed into the tributary on Tuesday.

"The milky appearance of the discharge is believed to have been due to the presence of paint washings that had been dumped into the sewerage network at an unknown point upstream of the station," said a Department of Environment spokesperson, stressing there was no fishkill associated with the discharge.

"The Inspector collected statutory samples of the discharge with a view to the initiation of enforcement action and to identify the polluting load in the discharge. Early in the investigation, the operator of the sewage pumping station was informed of the discharge and remedial action was requested by NIEA. Staff from the Lough's Agency confirmed that there was no impact of the fish population on the River Roe. The strength of the pollutant discharged will not be confirmed until the sample analyses are completed. However, given the available dilution in the River Roe at the time of the incident the discharge is likely to have had a short term impact only."

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Cllr hOisn added: "It's an ongoing situation because of the mixed sewage and storm system we have that this arises. It shows what is going into the system and the river."

A DoE spokesperson confirmed that, since the beginning of 2007, there has been one previous water pollution incident involving the same pumping station classified as being of low severity."

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