This article is from page 20 of the 2009-05-12 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 20 JPG
MINISTER for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, John Gormley has described as “un- acceptable” problems encountered with the commissioning of the €8 million Ennis water treatment plant.
A boil notice, in place on the town’s water supply since July 2005, was last week extended for a further three months after it was discovered that the treatment plant cannot sup- ply enough water for homes in the Ennis area.
The quality of water produced by the plant did meet required Euro- pean standards however problems with supply, resulting from periods of heavy rainfall, emerged during the commissioning period.
As a result the 56-day commission- ing period is to recommence with an interim treatment plant still being used to treat water.
Speaking in Ennis on Friday, Min- ister Gormley said, “We’ve had fail- ures. In my own backyard we’ve had a sewage treatment plant, which was on the basis of a public private part- nership, which failed, it was a bit of a
debacle. If you’re saying, is it accept- able? Then no, it’s not acceptable”.
He continued, “We have to get these things right. We have to ensure that infrastructure projects come in on budget and are actually a service for the local people. The most im- portant thing in all of this is to retain our focus on what is best for the local community.”
Mr Gormley said that there were no problems with quality of the Ennis water supply and that local authori- ties had to be sure before they com- missioned the treatment plant for full WD OSLoMENos
He said, “The plant is being com- missioned at the moment. We have to ensure that there are no further false Cra the
“We have to ensure that we are absolutely certain that the drinking water quality is up to scratch. We’re sure that is the case but we’re just, I suppose, employing the pre-caution- ary principle to make sure that we’re absolutely sure. So that investment is a good investment and people have the very best drinking water qual- ity when that commissioning phase is done.”