This article is from page 9 of the 2008-05-13 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 9 JPG
CLARE County Council and the Health Service Executive started a process of damage limitation at the weekend ahead of revelations that both agencies failed to inform the public of increased risk of contract- ing cryptosporidium from the Ennis public water supply.
Documents released under the Freedom of Information Act show that the Environmental Protection Agency warned in January of an another possible outbreak of Crypt- Osporidium one month before the most recent outbreak where two chil- Cleon lmnEe
The agencies never informed the public of the increased risk and an RTE Prime Time Investigates pro- gramme quizzed top officials last week on their role in the failure to inform the public.
The programme is not going to be broadcast until September and is focusing on the outbreak of crypt- osporidium in Ennis and Galway.
Both the council and the HSE re- leased statements last Friday and in an apparent move to shift the blame to the council, the HSE told all GPs, pharmacists and dentists in Clare that “the HSE advised that consum- ers should be regularly updated by the council of developments affect- ing the Ennis water supply”’.
The council posted a statement on its own website which for the first time acknowledged problems – ob- liquely – with the temporary Ennis
water treatment plant.
It does not refer to the damning January EPA audit but says only the capacity of the plant has been in- creased by 25 per cent “in response to increased demands on the system and the requirement of the EPA that full filtration be applied to all drink- ing water going out to consumers”.
The statement also admits for the first time that not all water go- ing through the plant is treated for Cryptosporidium.
In a careful understatement of the ongoing situation over the past number of months, the council states that because of technical require- ments associated with the construc- tion of the new Ennis Water Treat- ment Plant and servicing of the interim plant, “it has not been pos-
sible to provide fully filtered water to date.”
The statement once more re-iter- ates the precautionary boil notice in place for vulnerable groups, includ- ing patients who are immunocom- promised, infants, pre-school chil- dren and visitors.
The statement goes on, “These groups are advised to continue to boil tap water before consumption. Institutions serving vulnerable peo- ple should also continue to boil tap water or use alternative supplies. This includes hospitals, nursing homes, créches, pre-schools and day CF eee tne