The oil spill on the Woodford and parts of the Upper Lough Erne

in September 2006

The day when the oil pollution began:

Some hundreds meters above the Corraquill Lock (Lock1) we reach in the afternoon on the 28/09/2006 coming downstream from Ballyconnell a bad smell. First I thought we would have a problem and I stop the gear. But then we see the oil film on the river and that we have not caused it. We drive on to the lock. But there is no Ranger. We try more than once to call Waterways Ireland in Ballyconnell and finally we reach a staff member. He tells us that it has happened in the morning, that they are sorry and that they cannot do anything. We sluice down and drive on through the foul-smelling stock.

The oil spill does not stop. Behind the mouth of the Woodford we see that the spill has spread on the surface of the lakes of the Erne around Gad Tower. We had planned to stay overnight in the Trial Bay but we change our intention. We drive to Chrom Castle and come close to the jetty into clear water. Neither at the point where the oil pollution starts nor at the lock or further on downstream were booms deployed.

The day after:

The Environment and Heritage Service (EHS) in Northern Ireland got a call in the next morning on 10:29 a.m. and was informed about the oil spill. On Friday morning Waterways Ireland deployed booms at the confluence of the tributary where the oil flows into the Woodford River.

8 Km of the tributary has been affected, together with a further 8 Km of the Woodford River to it’s confluence with Upper Lough Erne and, so we have seen, a long way beyond the mouth of the Woodford into the Erne. A fish kill shall not have been observed during the incident. The source of the pollution has been identified and statutory samples have been taken with a view to prosecution. A specialist clean up company has been contracted by the suspected polluter to carry out a clean up of the area. The issue is subjudice.

Our conclusions for us as boaters:

The Irish Inland waterways have problems with sewage without enough clarification and to much fertilizer used by the farmers and especially in point of phosphorus emissions which are the main cause for the decline in water quality, eutrophication and algae blooms. The slow floating waters like the Upper Lough Erne and the Lough Derg have the most problems with nitrate and phosphorus emissions.

An accidental pollution with oil is an additional stress. One of the important factors for underwater plants and fish in fresh water is the concentration of O2. High concentrations of nitrates reduce it. In fresh water the concentration of oxygen is normally very low only some mg/litre. Below a concentration of 4 mg O2/l (only mg!) the absolute critical zone for fish is reached. So you can imagine that an oil spill after the spill of the liquid manure which had been deployed in these days together with high rain fall in the days before the spill has brought the O2 concentration down. At best no fish has died caused by cemented gills but it as well as has an effect to the micro organisms and that can cause infertility to the fish. These are complicated ecological processes and they are also associated with toxic algae and zebra mussels.

It is the best to report a water pollution incident immediately to the responsible and competent authorities. Immediately means on the same day. It is essential that the competent authorities receive reports of water pollution as soon as they are observed. Any delay in reporting by the public can seriously reduce the response time, the necessary investigations and the possible measures. We emphasize to have the relevant numbers on board.

Water Pollution Hotline in Northern Ireland:
To encourage the reporting of incidents in NI operates a freefone pollution response system, the ‘Water Pollution Hotline’ (0800 80 70 60), that is available to the public at all times (24 hours). Please note that (0800 80 70 60) is a UK wide number, and can be used to report pollution to the Environment Agency (EA) in England and Wales, the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA), and the Environment and Heritage Service (EHS) in Northern Ireland.

Emergeny numbers in the Republic of Ireland / County Councils (Shannon / SEW):
In the Republic of Ireland the County Councils are the responsible authorities. The following numbers can be called along the Shannon and SEW during the office hours. (That was written in 2006, in 2010 there are more and more out of office hours numbers of County Councils available.)
Out of business hours or in case of urgency please call the emergency numbers
999 or 112.

Cavan County Council, Cavan,
Tel: 049 4378 300
Environmental Management
Tel: 049 4378 486

Leitrim County Council, Carrick-on-Shannon,
Tel: 071 9620 005
Environment Hotline
Tel: 1890 205 205

Roscommon County Council
Tel: 090 6637100
Environment Senior Executive Officer
Tel: 090 6637 332

Longford Co. Council, Longford,
Tel: 043 3346 231
24 hours number
Tel: 1850 211 525

Offaly County Council, Tullamore,
Tel: 057 9346 800
Out of hours
1890 750 750
Environmental Hotline
Tel: 1800 242 673
Environment
Tel: 057 9357 403

Westmeath County Council, Mullingar,
Tel.: 044 9332 000
Pollution Hotline Environment Section
Tel: 1890 320 005

Galway County Council, Galway,
Tel: 091 509000
Environment Department
Tel: 091 476402

Clare County Council, Ennis,
Tel: 065 6821616
Environment Department
Tel: 065 6846331

North Tipperary County Council, Nenagh,
Tel: 067 31771 or 44500
Environmental Section
Tel: 067 44786 or 067 44791

Update 27/01/2010