Louth's Cllr Reilly calling for EPA investigation at Rockmarshall beach
Black sludge reported along beach
Faughart based councillor John Reilly says he received a phone call on Sunday 31 July from a gentleman walking his dog on Rockmarshall beach, in north Louth, with the man reporting a black sludge in the water right along Rockmarshall beach.
Cllr Reilly visited the site at approximately 1pm on Sunday and has taken multiple photographs of a black sludge apparently coming in on an inward tide. He claims that "without any shadow of a doubt there has been an environmental incident in Dundalk Bay, most likely in the early hours of Saturday morning".
The councillor's understanding is that the tide was high at approximately midnight on Saturday night and that this pollution was washing in on an inward tide. Cllr Reilly claims this situation coincides with complaints that he has received on several occasions from residents in the area complaining of a foul smell.
"I don't think there can be any doubt that we have a pollution problem in Dundalk Bay", Cllr Reilly says, "the source of which needs to be investigated."