The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has launched an investigation following the accidental release of wastewater from an Aurivo milk plant in Co. Donegal.
The agency said it was notified by Aurivo Consumer Foods on Tuesday (September 12) about the incident at the Killygordon facility in the east of the county.
The wastewater was discharged into the Cross Roads stream, which flows in a northerly direction where it joins the River Finn near Killygordon.
It is understood that up to 1,000 fish have been killed as a result of the incident at the Aurivo plant, which is licensed by the EPA.
In a statement, Aurivo Co-Operative confirmed the “accidental discharge of wastewater into a tributary to the River Finn from its milk plant in Killygordon”.
The processor said that the incident was first identified on Tuesday.
“Aurivo greatly regrets this situation and has fully remediated the issue.
“The co-operative is engaging with the appropriate authorities, the Loughs Agency and the Environmental Protection Agency and key stakeholders,” it added.
EPA
The EPA said that staff from the Office of Environmental Enforcement attended the site on Wednesday (September 13) to investigate the incident.
The staff also worked “to identify what corrective actions need to be taken at the facility”.
The site inspection report once completed will be made available on the EPA website.
The EPA has also liaised with Donegal County Council and the Loughs Agency, a cross-border border tasked with fisheries protection, to “assess the impact of the incident on the receiving environment”.
Samples from the scene have been taken for further analysis at the EPA laboratories.
“EPA staff from the Office of Environmental Enforcement, continue to investigate the cause of the incident,” a statement from the agency outlined.
Fish kill
The Loughs Agency said that it was also alerted on Tuesday to the “potential presence of a pollutant into a tributary of the River Finn, allegedly stemming from a commercial premises”.
When they arrived to the site, fishery officers from the agency discovered “a discharge of deleterious matter had entered the watercourse”.
“Substantial fish mortalities were discovered in the river on Tuesday evening, as well as during searches on the morning of Wednesday, September 13. Samples were collected from the discharge for analysis,” the agency said in a statement.
The Loughs Agency said it has committed significant resources for the clean-up operation.
Fishery officers are working to ensure that additional fish deaths are mitigated “as best as possible”.
“We will have resources at the site of the incident until the investigation is complete,” the agency said.