DONEGAL County Council has launched an investigation into strong odours coming from the business park in Gaoth Dobhair. Complaints were made by members of the public and Councillor Micheal Cholm Mac Giolla Easbuig regarding the strong smell of chemicals coming from Páirc Ghnó Ghaoth Dobhair which is run by Údarás na Gaeltachta. An inspection was carried out on the estate on Thursday by a member of the Council’s senior technical staff and a source of the strong odour was identified.
Responding to Cllr Mac Giolla Easbuig’s concerns, the Council’s Acting Senior Executive Scientist said the odours “derived from a solvent scrubbing system associated with one of the larger factories in the estate.
“The Council will be investigating the matter further with the business in question and, in conjunction with another state agency, appropriate enforcement action will be initiated to resolve the issue. In addition, we will be keeping Údarás na Gaeltachta informed, since they are in charge of this industrial estate and they may have their own tenancy agreements which should be followed & enforced.
“If there are recurrences of the problem, the matter should be reported back to us again, preferably with date & time of detection, which may help in the investigation so as to identify what operations were taking place at the time.”
Speaking to the Donegal News yesterday Cllr Mac Giolla Easbuig called for the Council to publish the findings of its investigation for members of the public.
He said: “As a public representative for this community this is not acceptable at all. I think the Council’s response has been extremely disappointing. They are lacking in their response to this and I think it is shameful.”
A spokesperson for Údarás na Gaeltachta said: “Údarás na Gaeltachta have been informed by Donegal County Council that they are investigating a complaint regarding odours emanating from a private company on Páirc Ghnó Gaoth Dobhair. It is important to confirm that all private companies operating on Páirc Ghnó Ghaoth Dobhair, or indeed anywhere countrywide, have an obligation to ensure compliance with all appropriate environmental laws and regulations.
“Údarás na Gaeltachta are satisfied that the appropriate state agencies are dealing with the case and would expect any private companies operating on any of our business parks to comply with all laws, byelaws and regulations and this forms part of Údarás agreements.”
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Posted: 10:54 am March 9, 2020
