War against pollution

22 Jul 1978

New measures to prevent pollution in Dublin’s rivers and waterways are being prepared, it was learned today. Extra funding and more sophisticated back-up are being positively considered for the city’s only anti-pollution task force the Dublin Board of Fisheries Conservators. It is hoped that the new measures will bring pollution prevention and prosecution up to standards already established in other European cities. Prosecutions relating to pollution at the Liffey, Dodder, Camac, Poddle, Tolka and Broadmeadow river estuary have ‘been successfully brought by the Board this year. The main pollution culprits were the city’s local authorities, who allowed domestic effluent into the rivers, and heavy industrial concerns who permitted seepage of noxious waste into the waterways. Fines ranging from £10 to £70 were handed down by district justices. The actual prosecutions cost hundreds of pounds to process. The new measures will make it easier for the Board to identify sources for pollution; to stabilise river health, and to set up an accurate river pollution monitoring service. Meanwhile, Dublin Co. Council intend to carry out major anti-pollution work at four locations countrywide following convictions in the courts.

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