Residents and boat-owners in Rathmullan who’ve just discovered the first sewage slick of the summer have complained that the new public toilets will add seriously to the pollution problems in Lough Swilly.
Rathmullan is one of Donegal’s seaside towns that does not have a sewage treatment plant and a solution may be many years distant, according to the local community.
Cllr. Ian McGarvey told the Tirconail Tribune he’s shocked that any authority subject to EU law can construct a new public toilet and allow the raw sewage to be pumped into waters where the public is threatened by all kinds of pollution.
He said he’s been campaigning for a sewage treatment plant in Rathmullan for forty years and there is no real solution in sight.
He said there is a long-term plan in Irish Water for a sewage treatment plant that will serve Rathmullan, Milford and Kerrykeel at a central location, but that could be twenty years away.
He said no tenders have yet been received for the new facility in Rathmullan and the portaloos will continue to be part of the landscape for the 2017 season.
The issue of untreated sewage was highlighted by local residents in the good weather at the weekend. While out boating they encountered their ‘first sewage slick’ of the season off Rathmullan Pier.
And they said the situation will get much worse when the new toilets are opened. At present the village attracts around 70,000 visitors a year and the influx is served by four portaloos in summer.
The closure of the original toilet block helped somewhat to reduce the raw sewage problems around the Pier and Kinnegar Beach… but that is not going to continue.
The new toilet block in Rathmullan has gone to tender but no contract has yet been signed.
Rathmullan’s sewage disposal has been a source of much concern over many years with reports large quantities of faeces forming into ice-berg formations on Lough Swilly.
At the same time the Pat Kenny Show on Newstalk listed the 43 coastal towns discharging raw sewage. Included were the towns of Rathmullan, Ramelton and Kerrykeel.
Cllr. Ian McGarvey says it is outrageous to think that in 2017, Donegal County Council and Irish Water would contemplate constructing a public toilet facility without a full treatment facility. He said he understands the building will have aeration facilties to remove the smell but that will not lessen the quantity or volume of raw sewage going into Lough Swilly.”
Retired anaesthetist John Carne said: “Obviously to help tourism on the Wild Atlantic Way and Donegal in particular Pat Kenny named the local towns as where no-one would want to go on holiday due to the obvious health hazard.
“He let Irish Water off the hook because of their relative newness. And the county council for its lack of funding to be able to provide the necessary works when it was responsible.
“This comment made me think of a recent article in the Tirconaill Tribune which stated that the tenders had gone out for the public toilets for the Rathmullan pier.
“These toilets replace chemical toilets which have stood there for years, serving visitors and the numerous cassete toilets of camper vans using the adjacent car park. Previously this effluent has been carted off to some water treatment plant.
“The new permanent toilets planned will not have a treatment plant but presumably join the Rathmullan tanks and be discharged to the sea. Hence the pollution problem especially in the summer months will only be considerably increased.
“I know I can’t drink the water supplied by Irish water but as someone who sails out of Rathmullan I wonder if my health is being further compromised,” added Mr. Carne.
