Large amount of pollution going into our rivers and lakes, claims Guckian

Cllr Des Guckian has once again claimed that “there is a large amount of pollution going into our rivers and lakes from town dumps, from wastewater treatment plants.”
He was speaking after fielding a previous motion that stated he believed “seepage” was coming from Mohill dump and getting into Lough Rinn.
Cllr Guckian quoted a recent report in which EPA stated that the equivalent of three Olympic-size swimming pools of untreated raw sewage are flowing into Ireland's water systems every day because of a lack of water treatment plants and that over half of Ireland's wastewater discharges are not meeting EU standards to protect the environment and Cllr Guckian said he felt this applies to all of treatment works in Leitrim.
In a motion at the latest Leitrim County Council meeting, Cllr Guckian called for “the Council officials to admit that there is a large amount of pollution going into our rivers and lakes from town dumps, from waste water treatment plants and from the unofficial dump / sewer that exists between Hartley Business Park and St Patrick’s Park in Carrick-on-Shannon.
“I wish to know how they are proposing to end this pollution which poses massive risks to public health.”
The report by the Head of Finance and Water Services said that, in the very recent past this Council has investigated reports of pollution of surface waters adjacent to the closed landfills and Hartley Business park.
The response continued, “These investigations have confirmed that there is no evidence of pollution emanating for either the closed landfills or from Hartley Business Park into the adjacent surface water.
“This Council is not aware, nor have we received complaints in relation to the pollution of the surface water caused by wastewater treatment plants. However, your concerns in relation to pollution from wastewater treatment plants have been passed onto Uisce Eireann.”
Vincent Dwyer, Head of Finance, said that the council are not in the business of “innuendo or rumour” and were about “gathering evidence as a basis to determine whether or not pollution occurred.”
He rebuked Cllr Guckian's claim that the response was “evasive” and said it was “in fact very clear.”
Mr Dwyer continued, “We operate Mohill landfill under an EPA license to very strict guidelines, the national regulatory authority. That landfill has been sealed and the effluent from it has been gathered and pumped to the treatment plant.”
He also refuted Cllr Guckian's claim that the overgrowth in vegetation in Mohill river was down to pollution and that there was no evidence to support this.
“If Cllr Guckian has any evidence in relation to Mohill landfill that he wishes to point to, by all means let me know and we'll assess it.”
Mr Dwyer noted that Uisce Eireann had taken over the operation of wastewater and water treatment in Leitrim since September adding “they have taken on a water service in good shape.”
He added, “Our drinking water was one of the best in the country at the point it was handed over.”
In relation to Hartley, he said the council assessed the location in collaboration with the then-named Irish Water and that the evidence did not suggest that there was any pollution to service waters.
Cllr Guckian then said that “is it any wonder that so many people are dying of cancers in the last number of years and the evidence is in Mohill River and Lough Rinn.”
Cathaoirleach, Cllr Justin Warnock condemned Cllr Guckian's comments regarding cancer and said that the disease “is widespread across the whole country, not just that particular area.”