This article is from page 12 of the 2011-11-08 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 12 JPG
THOUSANDS OF families in north and west Clare face charges up to € 12,000 to upgrade their septic tanks – with the Burren area likely to one of the worst hit areas in the country under the new Water Services Act.
A provisional copy of the act, which was published last Friday, has revealed that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and not the local authorities will be tasked with providing tests on Clare’s estimated 17,000 septic tanks and the tests will be carried out on a risk-based basis. This means that the thousands of septic tanks located in karst landscape such as the Burren as well as heavy soil areas in the south of the county are likely to be targeted as black-spots.
“The EPA will see Clare as being much more of a risk than other counties. Generally counties with good soil and good grassland would be considered as better able to deal with waste water than Clare,” said north Clare engineer Michael Duffy.
“If the regulations are to implemented you will have situations where a lot of households will have to spend a lot of money because of this.
“There is definitely as case to be put to say that people living in towns and cities have already been subsidised for their waste water management and there should be some way of helping the individual householder in this regard.”
The new legislation also provides for a € 50 septic tank registration fee which people in Clare must pay to Clare County Council. According to David Timlin, Director of Service for Clare County Council, this fee will be used to fund the inspections which will be carried out by the EPA.
“The revenue generated by the license fee will be used to fund the delivery of a national inspection plan which will be developed by the EPA on a risk basis, and its roll-out will be managed by the local authorities,” he told The Clare People