Tag Archives: smell

AS Shannon Town Council discussed the foul odours that have plagued the area this year, it was claimed that local children have been left dizzy and too ill to go to school. While the odour hadn’t been very noticeable for some time, there were complaints that it was as bad as ever in the early part of this week. A report prepared for Tuesday’s town council meeting by Ger Dollard, director of services with Clare County Council and Sean Water, senior engineer, water services, said a major upgrade of Shannon’s wastewater plant and sewer network would cost €22 million, while an interim scheme would cost between €2m and €2.5m. However, they didn’t hold out much hope of the work happening very soon. While Irish Water is set to take over responsibility for maintenance of the network, Mr Dollard and Mr Ward’s report said, “The approach of Irish Water in its early years is likely to concentrate on smaller and/or interim …

SHANNON has been plagued by foul odours for months and an audit report carried out by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) into the town’s wastewater treatment plant says much of the blame lies with inadequacies at the plant. The audit was carried out in mid-October by John Feehan and Joseph Hunter of the EPA, with consultant John Kilgallon. Their report had seven main findings, one of which was that the plant was “generating significant hydrogen sulphide odours”. Hydrogen sulphide generates a strong smell similar to that of rotten eggs. Other findings were that the plant was designed and built without preliminary treatment facilities and that the plant is “currently achieving very little in terms of wastewater treatment’. The report’s sixth finding is that “The problems identified at the Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP) must be addressed and if any residual odour sources remain, they can then be more easily identified and remedied”. The final one stated, “Urgent priority measures need …

INFORMATION regarding the Shannon smell needs to be made available to the public, a number of town councillors claimed at their meeting on Tuesday night. Councillor Cathy McCafferty put forward a motion seeking a number of documents regarding the issue, including “copies of any statements, reports and correspondence between Clare County Council, the EPA, HSE or any other agency in respect of this odour problem, its origins and effects”. She said she wants local people to be better informed about the situation. “The reason I have raised this issue is to have this matter discussed in public so that the people in Shannon might be better informed of what has been going on. “At our meeting on October 24, an EPA representative told how complaints started in September. He remarked that 20 complaints were received on one day alone. A joint investigation commenced and the treatment plant was identified as the most likely source of the problem. We were told …