Waste plant needs urgent upgrade

THE capacity of the main Clonroadmore Waste Water Treatment Plant “urgently” needs to be upgraded if it is to provide for the future growth of commercial and industrial sectors in Ennis and its growing population, an oral hearing of An Bord Pleanála has heard.
The hearing took place last week to discuss an application by Clare County Council to upgrade the treatment plant, serving Ennis town centre and the northern, eastern and western environs of Ennis.
The existing wastewater treatment plant is designed for a load of 17,000 pe (population equivalent), and its current load is approximately 26,000. The proposed upgrade will have a designed capacity of 30,150. It is planned to upgrade the wastewater network on a phased basis, following a review of original proposals to build a new plant at the site.
Senior officials from both Clare County Council and Ennis Town Council made the case for the upgrade, emphasising its importance to the future development of the town.
Speaking at the hearing in the West County Hotel last week, David Timlin, director of environment and water services for Clare County Council, stated, “Ennis is designated as a hub town, in the National Spatial Strategy. The capacity of the main Clonroadmore Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP) urgently needs to be upgraded to provide for the current and predicted growth in domestic population and in the commercial and industrial sectors. As Water Services Authority, Clare County Council is acutely conscious of the need to urgently address the present sewerage deficiencies in Ennis.”
He described the existing plant at Clonroadmore as “already considerably overloaded.” He added, “This proposal for the upgrade of the Clonroadmore WWTP will provide for treatment of the wastewater loading arising in its catchment for the short to medium term, in a sustainable and economic manner.”
Mr Timlin explained that the proposal forms part of a coherent plan for the provision of upgraded facilities to treat all wastewater arising in the entire Ennis agglomeration.
The overall plan is contained in the Preliminary Report Addendum for Ennis Clarecastle Main Drainage, which was submitted to the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government (DECLG) in July last.
This report supersedes the previous Ennis Main Drainage and Flooding Study 2002, which recommended the provision of a completely new single treatment plant to serve Ennis and environs on the site of the Clareabbey wastewater treatment works, to replace both existing WWTPs and main pumping stations.
An Bord Pleanála (ABP) granted planning approval in 2003 and detailed planning followed including cost benefit analysis, public private partnership assessment and national development finance agency approvals.
However, by March 2009, the entire approach to the scheme had to be reviewed. Mr Timlin explained, “The high front-loaded capital costs associated with a virtually entirely new system could not be justified as against maximising the inherent value of the existing infrastructure, mainly dating from the 1970s and 1980s.”
The overall Ennis-Clarecastle revised proposal is to carry out further works in stages: first the Clonroadmore upgrade, then incremental upgrades of the smaller Clareabbey plant to the south, and to extend the discharge downstream. Parallel to this, works will be ongoing to separate storm water, reduce infiltration and improve pumping efficiency.
He told the oral hearing that the Water Service Investment Programme (WSIP) 2010-12 explicitly includes provision for planning to continue for a phased approach to Clonroadmore, Clareabbey and later stages of the scheme, rather than the all-encompassing approved main drainage scheme of previous programmes. “Just in the past fortnight, as part of the annual review of WSIP 2010-12, the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government (DECLG) has approved the proposal for the Clonroadmore WWTP upgrade to go to construction immediately, within the current WSIP time horizon, subject to approval to this application,” he pointed out.
Mr Timlin outlined that this application deals only with the necessary upgrading of wastewater treatment facilities at Clonroadmore WWTP and does not seek any amendment to the location of the present discharges to the River Fergus, adjacent to the site.
An extension to various elements of the WWTP will provide the necessary upgraded treatment capacity at Clonroadmore to cater for a population equivalent of 30,150.
“The upgrading works proposed will increase the operating capacity by making maximum use of the existing structures at the present treatment plant.  There will only be a small increase to the existing footprint of the facility without extending the boundary of the facility,” he said.
Mr Timlin stated that the upgrade is “required immediately” due to overloading and non-compliance with the Waste Water Discharge Authorisation licence and the Water Framework Directive requirements as set out in the Shannon River Basin Management Plan 2010. The River Fergus Water Management Unit Action Plan states that increasing the capacity of the Clonroadmore Wastewater Treatment Plant and providing tertiary treatment (or outfall relocation) are priority measures to be undertaken. “The works proposed will achieve these objectives,” he said.
He stated that with the mitigation measures proposed in the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in place, it is predicted that there will be no significant adverse effects arising from the modification works or the operation of the upgraded WWTP.
He concluded, “Clare County Council, as water services authority, is conscious of the duty to meet all legislative requirements.  In particular, the council has a statutory obligation to comply with the terms and conditions of the Waste Water Discharge Authorisation Licence for the treatment plant issued by the Environmental Protection Agency on September 2, 2009. This licence requires the treatment of all wastewater entering the treatment plant prior to its discharge to the River Fergus to a standard specified in the licence, and in compliance with the Surface Water Regulations, 2009.  Compliance with this requirement urgently requires the proposed improvement works at the treatment facility. Indeed, certain licence conditions, which required compliance by 31 December, 2010, cannot be met until the plant upgrade is completed.”
Also speaking at the meeting, Andrew Hersey, executive planner with Ennis Town Council, recommended that permission be granted the proposed development. He outlined that a number of planning applications have been refused because of inadequate capacity in the public sewer.
A decision by An Bord Pleanála on the development is expected to be made in September.