by Kathy Masterson
SALMON and trout stocks in a section of the Loobagh river in Kilmallock have been all but wiped out following a slurry spill this week.
About 650 adult salmon and trout and countless juveniles were killed. The source of the pollution has been traced to a farm and an investigation is ongoing.
“It is affecting a couple of miles of river. We found the source of the pollution so that has been stopped. There is a plume of pollution moving downriver but that has lost a lot of its strength,” explained Mike Fitzsimons, senior fisheries environment officer with Inland Fisheries Ireland.
Eamon O’Riordan, chairman of Kilmallock and Kilfinane Anglers’ Association, came upon the spill at Riversfield bridge in Kilmallock on Monday evening.
He told the Limerick Post: “The sight that greeted me wasn’t pleasant. There were a lot of fish dead and lots of fish struggling to get oxygen. There were about 650 adult fish wiped out over a two-mile stretch of river, as well as 300 to 400 juveniles that would have been this year’s progeny.
“The river as a fishing amenity will be wiped out for the next three to four years. It’s a sad state of affairs.”
The polluted site lies just 100 metres from the water treatment plant at Kilmallock, which temporarily shut down until midday on Tuesday.
A spokesperson for Irish Water said: “The plant was shut down and switched over to a reserve supply at Jamestown. The water supply to Kilmallock was not affected and there was no disruption to the water supply.”
