Council site assessments flawed says engineer

SITE assessments approved by Clare County Council are seriously “flawed” because of anomalies in the local authority regulations for wastewater treatment systems, a North Clare civil engineer has claimed.

Mick Duffy has called on a joint Oireachtas Committee on the Environment to conduct an investigation into Clare County Council’s regulations for the proper design and installation of wastewater treatment systems, to prevent the pollution of surface and groundwater in the county.
The joint committee produced a report on the regulation of wastewater treatment services in May 2009, which recommended that a list of qualifications required by the certifiers of treatment system installations in each local authority area be established. It also proposed an approved inspection enforcement panel was required in each county.
Mr Duffy alleged that the whole council-appointed registered panel for assessing wastewater treatment systems should be scrapped. He levelled the charge after An Bord Pleanála turned down planning permission for a development granted by the council for a 26-berth campsite and ancillary services in Doolin.
The appeals board ruled the development would be premature because of the existing deficiency in the provision of sewerage facilities, would give rise to a significant risk of water pollution and interfere with a floodplain and prejudice the provision of an amenity walkway.
Mr Duffy criticised the environment section of the council for approving this development, which didn’t have sufficient ground to accommodate a wastewater treatment facility.
In a hard-hitting statement issued to The Clare Champion, he objected to the creation of a “register of independent, suitably qualified agents/consultants for wastewater treatment”, claiming that it discriminated against “other better qualified people, such as civil engineers”.
“I have other similar instances where individuals think they have paid for a professional service, yet are actually polluting groundwater and will be held responsible. I am not against development. I have been involved in the design and installation of sceptic tanks for 35 years yet I couldn’t get on this panel,” he said.
Stating that the 2006 Planning and Development Regulations doesn’t specify who should carry out a site assessment report for an on-site treatment system, he claimed the council had taken upon itself to prescribe who could submit such reports.
He said the council applied conditions in planning permissions that the installation of wastewater treatment systems had to be supervised by a member of the panel.
“The basic qualification required by the council for entry on this panel is a FETAC certificate, acquired after successfully completing an eight-day FÁS course. This FÁS course is solely for site suitability assessment, it does not qualify the recipient in regard to installation of systems.
“Proper design and installation is crucial to prevent pollution of surface and ground water. It is crucial for the public health of the householder and family.
“My objection to this policy is that individuals are forced to use these consultants on this panel when making a planning application. This is a considerable added expense to someone planning to build a house,” he said.
“As in the Doolin case, many of the site assessments presented in planning applications and then ­conditioned by the council are flawed.
Therefore, many individuals are paying for reports where the design or the installation is flawed.
“In the future, the council or a more competent organisation will visit and inspect these sites because any individual causing pollution will be sanctioned and forced to carry out expensive remediation works,” Mr Duffy claimed.
He pointed out that the main thrust of his observations were upheld by the board’s inspector and copperfastened in the refusal.
A spokesman for the Department of the Environment said Mr Duffy could make a submission to the department on this issue, which would be considered by Environment Minister John Gormley.
The applicant, Aidan Fitzgerald said it was disgraceful that a public sewerage system wasn’t available in Doolin, as the lack of this facility was holding up development in the area.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the council’s planning department said it is not the policy of the planning authority to comment on individual planning applications where a decision on an application has been made by An Bord Pleanála. “The considerations of the ­proposal are open to public inspection on the file,” the spokesperson added.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) code of practice establishes an overall framework of best practice in relation to the development of wastewater treatment and disposal systems, in unsewered rural areas, for protection of the environment and specifically water quality.
“Local authorities are responsible for determining who is qualified to carry out site suitability tests.
“In all cases, these designated persons must have successfully completed the FÁS training course – facilitated by the EPA, despite having any other qualifications.
“They will have a certificate as proof of completion of this course,” an EPA spokesperson said.