Claim and counterclaim has raged between City Hall and Green Cllr Niall Ó Brolcháin over when the Galway City Council first knew about lead exceedences in the water and when figures for those exceedences were released.
Last week it was alleged that the Galway City Council knew of lead exceedences in the drinking water supply in July, but this week Cllr Ó Brolcháin alleged that City Hall was aware of lead exceedences in Shantalla, Mervue, The Claddagh, as far back as 2004.
While conducting research into alleged high levels of chlorine in the city’s drinking water, The Green Party obtained official figures from the Galway City Council which also included readings of lead levels.
According to the figures there were seven cases of lead exceedence in 2004 - two in Shantalla, two in The Claddagh, and three in Mervue. The readings ranged between 28 and 42 but one of the readings for Shantalla was 273. The tests were carried out between January and June 2004.
There were three cases of lead exceedence in 2005. Two were in Mervue and one in Shantalla. The tests were carried out in September and October of that year. There was one level of exceedence in 2006 with a 149 reading in Pearse Avenue, Mervue.
The figures for 2008 revealed two incidences on Fr Griffin Road, one in April and one in May, as well as two in July occurring in Tone Avenue, Mervue. The first Tone Avenue reading was 106.
A spokesperson for City Hall said that far from being secret or buried, the figures were published in the Environmental Protection Agency Reports of 2004 and 2005.
“The figures are public knowledge since that time and are available thorough the EPA’s website,” a council spokesperson told the Galway Advertiser. “These figures were referred to at Friday’s special meeting and during the cryptosporidium crisis.”
The spokesperson added that the reason there were seven incidences in 2004 was that these were incidents of targeted testing of specific cases where there was suspicion of lead exceedences.
However Cllr Ó Brolcháin - while acknowledging that the figures are available from the EPA - said they were not presented to councillors by council officials at the time and that this was another example of “the culture of secrecy” in City Hall.
“If officials are not up front with us how can we make the best decisions on what to do in the future?” he asked. “City Hall must give us an honest picture of what is happening or else it will only lead to further problems.”
