Environment - Thurles Information

EPA Launches A National Air Quality Forecast.

Sufferers of respiratory diseases and asthma please note.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has today launched a national air quality forecast available on airquality.ie.
The forecast will provide maps showing the predicted daily air quality for up to three days -“Today”, “Tomorrow” and the “Day after Tomorrow”.
The air quality forecast is an important resource for everyone, but especially people who may be sensitive to poor air quality (e.g. those with asthma and heart conditions).
The air quality forecast will help people plan their activities to follow public health advice, such as reducing physical activity when air pollution levels could affect their health.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has today launched a national air quality forecast to provide greater information to the public regarding expected air quality in Ireland for up to three days – “Today”, “Tomorrow” and the “Day after Tomorrow”.

Forecasts include daily Air Quality Index for Health (AQIH), Particulate Matter (PM), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and ozone (O3). PM, NO2 and O3 are the three main air pollutants impacting human health in Ireland. All pollutants mapped are presented on the Air Quality Index for Health (AQIH) scale (1 – 10).

Marking the launch of the forecast, Dr Micheál Lehane, Director of the EPA’s Office of Radiation Protection & Environmental Monitoring, said: “Air pollution can seriously impact people’s health; the air quality forecast will provide an important health and air quality resource for everyone, and will be even more impactful for those of us who are particularly affected by poor air quality, including those suffering from respiratory disease and asthma. The forecast will also serve policy makers as a valuable tool for analysing air quality in Ireland.’’

There are concerning localised air quality issues in Ireland. Fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) from burning solid fuel and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) from vehicle emissions are the main pollutants impacting on people’s health. This forecast will help people plan their activities in line with the Air Quality Index for Health (AQIH) recommendations, such as reducing physical activity when air pollution levels are predicted to increase. The forecast maps will be uploaded twice daily, once in the morning and once in the evening.

The CEO of the Asthma Society of Ireland, Ms Eilís Ní Chathnia, welcomed the forecast launch: “The air quality forecast will be an important resource for our members and everyone with respiratory conditions. Ireland has the highest incidence rate of asthma in Europe with one in ten children and one in thirteen adults developing the condition – with 890,000 people likely to develop asthma in their lifetimes. The Asthma Society welcomes the opportunity to be associated with the launch of the forecast.’’

The forecast and further information on air quality and the Air Quality Index for Health are available on HERE.

The air quality forecast maps are produced by computer models which have been developed under the EU LIFE Emerald project. The models use Irish and European data such as air quality measurements, forecast weather and land cover data. The EPA has partnered on this with the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC), the Health Service Executive (HSE), VITO, a Belgian research institute, University College Cork (UCC) and the Asthma Society of Ireland.

EPA Online Portal Grants Full Access To Environmental Enforcement Information.

From today the EPA’s new LEAP Online portal enables easy access to environmental enforcement information providing full public access to our enforcement activities.
Through LEAP Online the public will be able to see information on site inspections, monitoring, incidents, non-compliances, complaint summaries and also compliance investigations into issues detected at EPA licensed sites.
LEAP Online will allow the public to learn about nearby licensed operations and how they are performing in their obligations to protect their local environment.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has today launched the second phase of a major new Online service, the Licensing and Enforcement Access Portal or LEAP Online, following on from the release of Phase 1 in May of this year. Phase 1 provided access to Site Visit Reports, monitoring reports and responses by licensees to those reports, as well as monitoring returns, requests for information and approval. Today’s release delivers the further enforcement information, including details of incidents, non-compliances, complaint summaries and also compliance investigations into issues detected at licensed sites.

**Barry’s Bridge on River Suir, Thurles, Co. Tipperary**.

The LEAP Online portal is now complete and provides access to the full set of enforcement information describing the enforcement activities, actions and communications between the EPA and holders of EPA licences and permits. The information can be viewed on desktop, tablet and mobile phone.

Commenting on the launch of LEAP Online, Mr Darragh Page, EPA Programme Manager said:
“The EPA want the public to have full access to environmental enforcement activities. The detailed compliance and enforcement information we make available through the LEAP Online portal allows the public to learn about nearby licensed operations and how they are performing in their obligations to protect their local environment. It also enables operators themselves to communicate directly with their neighbours about their environmental performance as they conduct their business, including how they address compliance issues when they occur “.

Further information on the various categories of regulatory correspondence is available on the EPA website at Latest industrial and waste compliance information | Environmental Protection Agency (epa.ie)

Uisce Éireann Must Use Investment Plan To End Pollution Of Rivers & Coastal Waters.

Uisce Éireann must use its new investment plan to end pollution of our rivers and coastal waters from waste water.

Over half of Ireland’s waste water discharges are not meeting EU standards set to protect the environment.
Uisce Éireann has committed to eliminating raw sewage discharges by 2025 from the majority of the 26 towns and villages with no treatment.
Uisce Éireann still does not have clear plans to prevent pollution at some of the most significantly impacted water bodies, and it is vital these are resolved through its new investment plan.
Treatment plants must be operated and maintained properly to prevent impacts on the environment.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) report “Urban Waste Water Treatment in 2022”, released today, shows that Uisce Éireann has made progress in stopping discharges of raw sewage over the past year, with the connection of six villages to new treatment plants in 2022. However, waste water continues to harm the quality of many of Ireland’s rivers, estuaries, lakes and coastal waters. While works to upgrade treatment plants and prevent pollution are progressing in some areas, Uisce Éireann’s delays in other areas are prolonging the risks to the environment and public health.

Launching the report, Dr Tom Ryan, EPA Director said: “While it is encouraging to see continued progress in stopping the unacceptable practice of discharging raw sewage into our environment, waste water remains a significant pressure on Ireland’s water ways and is adversely impacting water quality. The pace at which Uisce Éireann is delivering improvements needs to accelerate to prevent pollution and protect water quality”.

He added: “Uisce Éireann must take the opportunity of its new investment plan for 2025 to 2029 to deliver waste water infrastructure that meets the needs of our society and protects and improves our environment into the future. The investment plan must prioritise resources to prevent pollution in the priority areas highlighted by the EPA.”

Thirty years after Ireland was required to bring provisions into force to comply with EU treatment standards set to protect the environment, less than half (45%) of waste water is treated to these standards. This is expected to improve significantly to over 90% when the upgrade of Ireland’s largest treatment plant at Ringsend in Dublin is complete.

**River Suir, *‘Barry’s Bridge’*, Thurles, Co. Tipperary.**

Mr Noel Byrne, EPA Programme Manager, said: “It is welcomed that Uisce Éireann is currently building infrastructure at large urban areas, including Ringsend and Arklow, which are designed to treat waste water to a high standard. However, poor management practices at upgraded plants, such as Skibbereen and Courtmacsherry, caused inadequately treated sewage to discharge into the environment. This is not acceptable as these plants have sufficient treatment capacity. Uisce Éireann must implement effective maintenance programmes for existing infrastructure and improve its operation and management of treatment plants to prevent such failures in future.”

The report is now available on the EPA Website HERE.

Hard Undenyable Facts:
It will take a multi-billion euro investment, and at least two decades, to bring all waste water treatment systems up to the standard needed to protect our environment and also provide for future needs. As all the problems cannot be fixed in the short term, Uisce Éireann must direct the resources that are available to the areas where they are needed most and will bring the greatest benefits. The EPA identifies the following as priority areas:

*26 towns and villages that were discharging raw sewage daily in mid-2023. New treatment plants were recently completed at two of these, Kerrykeel, Co. Donegal and Liscannor, Co. Clare.

*15 large towns and cities where waste water treatment failed to meet European Union standards set to protect the environment. These include the greater Dublin area, served by an overloaded plant at Ringsend that treats over 40 per cent of Ireland’s urban waste water.

*39 areas where waste water is adversely impacting the quality of rivers, estuaries, lakes and coastal waters. Uisce Éireann is taking far too long to design and start delivering the improvements needed at many (28) of these areas.

*12 towns and villages where waste water treatment must improve to protect freshwater pearl mussels. Uisce Éireann’s failure to advance works at half of these areas is prolonging the risks to these endangered species.

*6 large towns and cities where collecting systems (sewers) must be upgraded to protect the environment and address the findings of a 2019 judgement from the Court of Justice of the European Union.

You can view the list of priority areas and the environmental issues at each area on the EPA website at the link HERE. This also shows when and how Uisce Éireann plans to resolve the priority issues at each area.

People In Ireland Support Climate Policies, With Opposition Specific To Local Concerns & Issues

People in Ireland feel that ‘others’ – such as future generations or people far away – are more threatened by climate change than themselves in the here and now.
This means that many people underestimate the immediate risks and already-occurring effects of climate change here in Ireland.
The youngest adults (18-24 years) consistently exhibit significantly higher levels of concern, with young women most concerned about climate change.
People in Ireland support climate change policies. Where opposition to climate policies arise, it appears to be driven by practical concerns, rather than by scepticism or suspicion of the science of climate change.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has today published two insight reports from its ‘Climate Change in the Irish Mind’ study. The reports ‘Climate Change in the Irish Mind – Support for Climate Policies’ and ‘Climate Change in the Irish Mind – Climate Risk Perceptions’ provide a detailed examination of some of the findings of the baseline study published in 2021.

The insight reports show that despite high levels of concern among the Irish public about climate change and high levels of overall support for climate action, there is a sense that ‘others’, or people in other countries and people in the future, will be more impacted than Irish people in the here and now. The reality is that climate change is already having real and measurable impacts on people in Ireland, and this is likely to increase in the future without concerted action.

The reports also show that among a minority of people (on average 30%) there is opposition to specific climate policies reflecting practical concerns such as the feasibility of electrifying home heating and transport.

Launching the reports, Dr. Eimear Cotter, Director of the EPA’s Office of Evidence & Assessment said: “This assessment indicates that the majority of people in Ireland support climate policies. People who oppose climate policies are not, however, climate deniers and opposition does not appear to be reflective of underlying concerns or suspicions around climate change. Rather, it appears to be specific to localised concerns and issues which must be addressed to enact major climate change policies”.

She added, “Today’s report also shows that there is an ‘othering’ or disconnection from the impacts of climate change. People believe that it will harm people in the future, far away, animals and plants, other people, and lastly themselves personally. This shows how important it is to convey the immediacy of the threat of climate change to people, that each of us is already being impacted by it and will be increasingly impacted into the future unless action is taken now”.

The Climate Change in the Irish Mind insight reports focus on the national responses to risk perceptions and policy support.

Speaking about the findings Dr. Conor Quinlan, Senior Manager in the Office of Evidence and Assessment said: “Age is the biggest factor in determining how concerned people are about climate change. The youngest adults (18-24 years) consistently exhibit significantly higher levels of concern and risks perceptions in relation to climate, with young women disproportionately concerned about climate change. And unlike some groups, they act on these concerns: young people’s consumer choices and purchasing patterns reflect their perception of climate change as a major risk”.

The insight reports can be found on the EPA website, HERE and HERE.

Urgent Action Needed To Improve Private Drinking Water Quality.

Private drinking water quality is not as good as public water quality.
The total number of small private supplies remains unknown as not all have registered with their local authority.
Eighty four percent of registered small private supplies were monitored in 2022, compared with seventy five percent in 2021.
The government review of the rural water sector identified several key issues in the provision of rural water that need to be addressed to protect public health.

The EPA today released the Drinking Water Quality in Private Group Schemes and Small Private Supplies 2022 report. Drinking water is provided to approximately 200,000 people across rural communities in Ireland, by over 380 group water schemes.

In addition, many rural commercial and public activities such as schools, creches, nursing homes, pubs and restaurants have their own drinking water wells. There are 1,700 small private supplies registered with local authorities, but the total number of small private supplies remains unknown, as many suppliers haven’t registered their supply.

Local authorities are required to monitor registered supplies annually and whilst 84% of private supplies were monitored in 2022, up from 75% in 2021, the results highlight ongoing issues with the quality of private drinking water supplies:

E.coli

Meeting E.coli standards is a basic requirement in the provision of safe drinking water. In 2022, fourteen private group schemes were found to have E. coli contamination, indicating that the water supply has not been properly disinfected. The failure of these disinfection systems put the health of approximately 5,500 people that use these drinking water supplies at risk.

Trihalomethanes (THM)

In 2022, 16 private group schemes supplying 14,000 people failed the standard for Trihalomethanes (THMs). THMs are formed when natural organic matter in the water source, such as vegetation, reacts with chlorine used in the disinfection treatment process. THM levels should comply with the drinking water quality standards, while ensuring that the water is fully disinfected. Actions to prevent THM failures need to be prioritised by suppliers, to protect public health.

Commenting on the findings of the report, Dr Tom Ryan, Director of the EPA’s Office of Environmental Enforcement said: “It is a local public health concern that private drinking water quality hasn’t improved in recent years despite the availability of public funding to support upgrades to water supplies. In addition, as there is no legal requirement to register private drinking water supplies, it is not possible to quantify the full extent of the risk to public health. The registration of private supplies needs to become a legally enforceable obligation on the supplier.”

A review of the rural water sector was completed in January 2023 on behalf of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. The review identified several significant issues that need to be addressed to improve drinking water compliance and reduce public health risk in private water supplies. The key issues identified by the review are outlined below:

All private water supplies should be registered with the local authority.
Access to funding for water quality improvements varies greatly across local authorities resulting in available funding not being used.
Measures are needed to improve management at underperforming private group schemes.

Mr Noel Byrne, Programme Manager of the EPA’s Office of Environmental Enforcement said: “The EPA welcomes the completion of the rural water sector review by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. The review has highlighted several issues that are contributing to poor water quality in private supplies. It is crucial that these issues, relating to registration, funding and management are addressed so that private water supplies meet required standards and public health is protected.”

The report is available HERE on the EPA website.