TENANTS at a Limerick city centre apartment building, where raw sewerage has been an ongoing issue, are fearing for their health after a suspected case of hydrogen sulfide poisoning.
The victim, a man in his fifties, has since been moved out of his Thomas Street flat after claims that he blacked out last month from exposure to H2S, a colourless, flammable gas that is highly toxic.
Also known as ‘sewer gas’, mild exposure can cause headaches, and eye irritation, while in the worst case scenario its presence can lead to unconsciousness and even death.
The Limerick Post was informed that the man’s daughter found him in an unconscious state in his apartment and managed to revive him.
Another tenant, who has had a kidney transplant, is also looking to be moved out of the flats due to the ongoing sewerage problem in the building and possible exposure to the poisonous H2S gas.
One resident told the Limerick Post this week that he had asked the Council to find him somewhere else to live but was told that this would be in breach of his Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS) contract. RAS is a social housing support run by the local authority.
“I didn’t sign up to live in sewerage. No one should have to live like this and it’s having an impact on my health now,” a tenant claimed.
“I am all blocked up in my chest, a problem I never had before, and I have skin irritations and rashes constantly. It couldn’t be good for you and I want out of here,” he insisted.
Tony Kiely, who runs a business at 35 Upper Thomas Street, has complained about raw effluent pouring out of the neighbouring apartment block for almost six months. Mr Kiely claims the landlord, a city-based accountant, and the Council have not properly addressed the problem of sewerage pouring out of the drains inside the building’s lobby.
“They just keep passing the buck and when they do come up it’s just a quick fix. There was someone up here at 5am one morning last week doing something, but there’s been no digging, so it’s just another temporary solution,” said Mr Kiely.
“The tenants are getting sick all the time because of it and all want out of there now. This problem has been going on for months and months,” he claimed.
When the Limerick Post first raised the issue with the local authority last month, it insisted that the connection from the property to the sewer on the road is the landlord’s responsibility to fix. In a statement this week the Council said, “Limerick City and County Council is only responsible for the main sewer and its upkeep, the connection from the public sewer to the property is the property owner’s responsibility and this has been explained to the landlord.”
Limerick City and County Council served notice (under section 110 of the Public Health Ireland Act 1878) on the landlord about the issue a number of weeks ago and he had until Wednesday August 27, 2014, to comply.
“If he hasn’t complied by that date, we will be recommending prosecution and go to court,” the Council warned.
Despite several attempts to contact him, there was no response from the landlord at the time of going to press.
