The Galway City Council knew about the presence of lead in the Galway water supply as far back as July, it was confirmed last night by the Environmental Protection Agency.
The Advertiser has been told that on July 30 Galway City Council notified the EPA’s Office of Environmental Enforcement (OEE ) of a failure to meet the lead parametric value in the Galway City public water supply, as required under drinking water legislation that came into effect in 2007. This revealed that lead levels taken in a pipe at Tone Avenue, Mervue were at least FOUR times higher than the safe levels.
The Advertiser has also learned that the city council only revealed the details this week because action was about to be taken by the EPA against them. If this pressure had not been forthcoming, it is unlikely that the public would yet know about this contamination.
Last evening an outraged Mayor Padraig Conneely told this newspaper that the saga was “a f**king disgrace” and that he is going to unleash this anger on council officials when they meet tomorrow (Friday ) evening.
“This is a cover-up of the highest order. I am enraged by what I have just learned from the EPA. For seven weeks, the Council has sat on this information and they would not have have revealed it were it not for the EPA threatening to take action against them.
“It is a f**king disgrace that the people of Galway have been treated this way by this shower in City Hall. That people have been allowed to consume water with four times the level of lead in it. I am puce with the anger and I will be letting the officials have it when we meet tomorrow evening,” he said last night.
The Advertiser has learned that the level of lead reported was 106 micrograms per litre (µg/l ). (The lead standard in the Drinking Water Regulations is 25 µg/l. )
The council indicated that the suspected cause of the failure was a lead service pipe and water main to the house where the sample was taken. On July 31 the OEE requested the city council to clarify the ownership of the lead service pipe, whether other properties were affected and whether the council intended to replace the pipe work.
On August 25, following receipt of a response from Galway City Council, the OEE requested the Council to:
1. prepare a programme for the replacement of the pipe work,
2. consult with the Health Service Executive and
3. identify the extent of the problem.
The council responded on September 8 stating that it was determining the extent of works required and that the agreed approach would be forwarded to the EPA.
Following the receipt of additional lead results taken in August, the EPA took a decision to issue a Direction under Regulation 9(2 ) of the European Communities (Drinking Water ) Regulations (No 2 ), 2007 to Galway City Council. As required by this Regulation the Direction was agreed with the Health Service Executive. The direction was issued on Tuesday — almost two months after the council first detected the lead.
The direction requires Galway City Council to carry out a survey to determine the extent of lead piping in the distribution system and the population affected; to include details of any lead tests carried out over the past four years and maps identifying the sections of the distribution system where elevated levels of lead were recorded; to identify all sections of the water supply distribution network in the city that have lead piping and are in the ownership of Galway City Council.
They have also asked the city council to prepare an action programme to reduce or eliminate the risk of water not complying with the lead parametric value in the distribution network.
The council also have to specify the remedial measures proposed and a timetable for the implementation of each of the remedial measures.
The EPA has directed Galway City Council to provide all the information referred to above by October 15 relating to this failure to meet the parametric value for lead. Failure to comply with this direction is an offence. The EPA will continue to monitor and assess the situation in liaison with the Health Service Executive and will provide further updates as information becomes available.
The priority for the EPA is to ensure that adequate measures are put in place by Galway City Council, at the earliest possible date, to ensure that the effected areas have a consistently safe supply of drinking water, a spokesman told The Advertiser last night.
