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Peat - Case Study
On 5th February 2009 FIE received an email complaint about damage caused by peat extraction Near Coole in County Westmeath.
This included a number of photographs showing extensive extraction of more htan 200 hectares adjacent to the River Inny some 1 - 3 km upstream from
Lough Derravaragh a designated Special Protection Area (SPA) , Natural Heritage Area (NHA) and is a High Amenity Area(HAA) in the Westmeath County Development Plan.
Based upon this information FIE undertook a desktop study of the area , including the River Inny and affected designated areas.
This study resulted in letters of complaint sent to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), The National Parks and Wildlife Sevice (NPWS),
the Shannon Regional Fisheries Board (SHRFB) and Westmeath County Council on the 24th February 2009.
FIE have yet to receive any information relating to the outcome of any investigation these bodies may have undertaken.
The response from Westmeath County Council and SHRFB raised more questions that they answered.
However Westmeath County Council offered to meet with FIE on site.
Westmeath County Council.
The site visit took place on the 6th April 2009. It was agreed by all present that drainage water was polluting the River Inny and that there may be planning issues. On the 23rd April 2009 Westmeath County Council sent an email summary of the investigation to date. Apparently the legal and enforcement section ‘have not established that there is unauthorised development under Planning and Development legislation’. The environment section have been in contact with the Parks and Wildlife section of the DoE to determine their involvement in the issue. They examined the water quality issues associated with the peat harvesting operation and a meeting has been held with Shannon Regional Fisheries Board to ensure a co-ordinated response. A programme of measures is being prepared to ensure that the peat harvesters manage the site in a manner which protects water quality To fully understand the situation on the 28th May 2009 FIE requested further information under European Directive 2003/4/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2003 on public access to environmental information and S.I. No. 133 of 2007 European Communities (Access to Information on the Environment) Regulations 2007 (AIE). This was due on the 28th June 2009. FIE have not yet received a reply.
The National Parks and Wildlife Service
The NPWS have consistently ignored our emails and other than one returned phone call we have received no response whatsoever. We followed up with a formal AIE request, due on the 28th June 2009. FIE did receive an aknowledgement for this stating that 'please be aware that the works being carried out in the locale are not within the Lough Derravaragh NHA/SPA and much, if not all of the activities in the area fall within the remit of other authorities'. This is remarkable considering Lough Derravaragh is a water body some 2-3 km downstream of the peat extraction. FIE have not yet received a reply.
EPA
The EPA assured us of an immediate investigation and that we would be sent reports within 2-3 weeks. That was on the 23rd February and despite numeruos enquiries we have yet to receive the results of their enquiries. This lack of response to requests for information resulted in a formal complaint to the Office of the Ombudsman sent on 22nd May 2009. This office informed FIE that the EPA do not come under their jurisdiction and the EPA have their own review body called the Quality Control Service (QCS). We sent our complaint to the QCS on the 26th May 2009 and recieved an unsatisfactory reply on the 29th June 2009. FIE will now have to appeal the outcome. To evaluate Westmeath Peat extraction and EPA licensing an AIE request was sent on the 19th May 2009. FIE were sent some information on the 16th June 2009 but the report relating to the peat extraction, promised in March will be a futher three weeks. The details of EPA licensing for peat extraction in County Westmeath were refused under Article 4(1) of the AIE regulations 2007 as they are made available to the public for inspection. FIE were informed that the Agency could provide us with access to the files at the Regional Inspectorate Office in Wexford and invited FIE to make an appointment. The EPA offices are over 300 km and a 5 hour journey each way from the FIE offices - a very sustainable method of providing environmental information. Particularly when the files are available on the EPA website. FIE still await the report on the Westmeath Peat extraction.
Shannon Regional Fisheries Board
The Shannon Regional Fisheries Board did reply and sent FIE a letter . However their reply was not reassuring. In November 2008 the only concern that appears to have been noted was the ‘proximity of peat stocks to the river Inny and wind blow from same’. The Board requested the peat stockpiles be covered with tarpaulins and once used all stockpiles were to be relocated to at least 150 meters away from the River Inny. There is in this one site approximately 200ha of bare peat soil crossed with drainage ditches exiting directly into the River Inny. There are no buffer zones for the drainage ditches and a 2-3 m buffer zone for the River Inny. Yet the Fisheries Board only seems to be concerned about the windblow from stockpiles. On 19th May FIE issued an AIE request to clarify the situation and obtain the study carried out in November 2008. FIE have not received a reply, no reply is deemed a refusal and therfore on the 30th June 2009 we appealed this decision.
The Mystery of the Moving Pump
When FIE received the complaint on the 6th February one of the photos we received was of the pump. Following our letter of 23rd February the Board visited the site and there was no pump there. However the pump must have returned to the site as it was seen on 6th April 2009 pumping vast quantities of polluted water into the River Inny. But, according to local sources, by the 27th April this elusive pump had once more disappeared. Where will it appear next? Who is moving it? Who owns it? Can it be satellite tracked? Reward offered.