The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found North Cork Co-Op Creameries to be "non-compliant" with its discharge licence after visiting its facilities as part of an investigation into a fish-kill incident on the Blackwater River.

The EPA carried out the inspection visit to the co-op's Strand Street, Kanturk, Co. Cork facility on August 12 and took samples of "effluent discharges".

One of the site areas the EPA inspected included the final discharge SW1 at V-notch weir.

The results of the samples were released by the EPA in a site visit report which detailed that the "visual quality of treated effluent examined at SW-1 was noted to be poor, with a visible blueish-grey cloudiness and observable suspended solids".

The EPA noted in its report that the licensee ie North Cork Co-Op Creameries, on the day in question had "reason to believe that discharges from SW-1 up to 10:00 were non-complaint and may have caused environmental pollution. The agency was not notified of this incident".

The EPA has also published details of the "exceedances of the emissions limit values" recorded at emission point SW-1.

These included:

Temperature was recorded at 26°C (versus an Emission Limit Values (ELV) of 25°C;
Ammonia was recorded at 26 mg/l (versus an ELV of 0.5 mg/l);
Biological oxygen demand (BOD) was recorded at 13 mg/l O2 (versus an ELV of 6 mg/l O2);
Chemical oxygen demand (COD) was recorded at 120 mg/l O2 (versus an ELV of 75 mg/l O2);
Orthophosphate was recorded at 3.6 mg/l P (versus an ELV of 0.5 mg/l P);
Total phosphorous was recorded at 4.3 mg/l P (versus an ELV of 2 mg/l P);
Total nitrogen was recorded at 34 mg/l (versus and ELV of 15 mg/l).

"One non-compliance was raised in relation to incident notification," the EPA has also stated.

Earlier this month Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) confirmed it was investigating a large fish kill - that may have killed up to 1,000 brown trout - in the River Blackwater, Co Cork.

According to IFI, Cork County Council, the EPA, the Marine Institute, and Uisce Éireann are currently working together "to advance the ongoing investigation of fish mortalities on the River Blackwater".

IFI has also published on its website all of the EPA reports detailing monitoring and testing, in the aftermath of the fish kill on the River Blackwater.

In a statement IFI outlined that: "Potential actions to progress the investigation have been discussed, including testing riverbed sediment, analysis of fish mortalities to identify potential harmful substances, and sampling of macroinvertebrates.

"Cork County Council, the EPA, and IFI will extend this work this week to further assess water and habitat quality overall".

Separately Minister of State Timmy Dooley today (Saturday, August 30) said that he was aware of the report on IFI’s website of further reports detailing monitoring and testing, "in the aftermath of the fish mortality on the River Blackwater".