This article is from page 115 of the 2008-09-30 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 115 JPG
THE PROBLEM of algal bloom in Lough Derg is “destroying” an al- ready hard-pressed Clare tourist in- dustry, it has been claimed.
Calls have been made to speed up approval of sewerage schemes to stop raw sewerage ending up in the JEN cor
Speaking in the wake of the latest toxic bloom warning, with notices being placed at the lake-shore last week, Teresa Browne of East Clare
Tourism says solutions are not being implemented fast enough.
“I’ve been told by fishermen that there was raw sewerage in the river at Scariff and it follows that that flows into the lake. We’ve had this problem for years now and we’ve been promised a solution but it hasn’t happened yet”.
The tourism businesswoman said that the incidents of algal bloom had not been as frequent this year, largely due to high water.
‘The truth is that even if the weath-
er had been better, visitors wouldn’t be able to go into the water when there’s algal bloom. This is destroy- ing the tourism trade and things are difficult enough”.
While providing treatment plants around the lake are an important part of solving the problem, Teresa says things are not moving fast enough and season after season the lake is being hit by the toxic bloom.
“Look at Scariff – we have a whole new network of pipes almost finished but the money for the treatment plant
hasn’t been approved yet. When is that going to happen?”’
The warning signs on the shores of the lake are to alert people to the fact that there is blue-green toxic algae in the water, which can cause rashes in humans and have previously proved fatal to dogs.
High water temperatures have contributed to the toxic bloom, ac- cording to North Tipperary County Council, who were responsible for erecting the notices.
Local county councillor, Pat Hay-
es, says he is confident that approval will be given in the near future by the minister to finance tenders for the upgrading of the Scariff sewer- age treatment plant.
“Thing have improved in recent years. The Blue Flags for water qual- ity at Ballycuggeran and Mountshan- non are testament to that,’ he told