At least 5,000 fish have been killed along a 4km stretch of Co. Cork’s River Allow following a suspected spillage from an Uisce Éireann water treatment plant in the area.
An investigation is currently underway involving a number of state bodies, including Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI), the State agency responsible for the protection and conservation of freshwater fish and habitats.
The pollution incident occurred in a Special Area of Conservation, on the River Allow, a tributary of the Munster Blackwater catchment at Freemount in the north of the county.
The region has previously benefited from EU-funding in an effort to restore water quality, as the Allow is considered an environmentally-sensitive location that as well as being a noted spawning habitat for fish, supports a population of endangered and protected freshwater pearl mussels.
Uisce Éireann has a water treatment plant in Freemount and said that it is investigating a reported spillage at the facility.
“Uisce Éireann has engaged with IFI and the EPA has been notified,” it said.
IFI officers are still attempting to determine the scale of the kill, with dead fish having been observed up to four kilometres downstream of the source location.
Species of fish discovered dead include juvenile Atlantic salmon, brown trout, lamprey, eel, stone loach, roach, and dace.
According to IFI, water samples have been taken from the river to gather evidence of the discharge, and source point of contamination, to advance any potential prosecution.
IFI Director for the South West Region Sean Long said that the affected site was a “scene of devastation,” the river “littered with dead fish” with “no insects or any indication of life in the area”.
