A DAIRY PLANT in north Cork has reiterated that it is “not connected” with a major fish kill that happened earlier this month, following the release of a wastewater report by the Environmental Protection Commission. 

Mystery continues to surround the widespread death of up to 46,000 fish, which happened on a 30km section of the River Blackwater between Lombardstown and Killavullen in North Cork.

The fish kill was first discovered by anglers on the morning of Monday, 11 August. The Journal has confirmed that no sampling took place by Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) until a full 24 hours later.

A new report published by the EPA said the agency took wastewater samples during a visit to the North Cork Creameries site in Kanturk, Cork on 12 August.

The samples found that ammonia levels were 52 times over the limit permitted for the company’s discharge licence, while orthophosphate levels were seven times over the limit. 

It states that the company did not inform the agency that wastewater discharges were non-compliant and “may have caused environmental pollution”.

In a statement, North Cork Creameries “adamantly and firmly restated” that it did not cause the fish kill. 

“There is nothing at any level of concentration or content in the wastewater effluent outflow from North Cork Creameries that could possibly have caused the appalling levels of injury and death to fish that took place near Lombardstown – which is a full 10km away from our facility,” the company said. 

It said the fish kill is a “deeply serious and distressing event for the entire community”, but it said it is equally serious and essential “to ensure accountability that is based on evidence, not assumption”. 

North Cork Creameries said it has been working with the EPA over a number of months to ensure compliance with the wastewater emission licence that it holds, but said this process “should not and must not be misinterpreted or conflated” with the fish kill. 

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“Following the incident, the EPA stated that their investigation had found no causal link between our site and the fish kill in the River Blackwater.”

The company added that in spite of the non-compliant water quality test, “it needs to be understood that the water contents and their levels identified by that test are not at any level that could possibly have killed fish or caused the extreme chemical injury to fish that took place 10km away in the River Blackwater near Lombardstown”.

A statement from Minister of State Timmy Dooley noted the publication of the reports on Saturday.

The statement said the Inland Fisheries Institute, Cork County Council, the EPA, the Marine Institute and Uisce Éireann met during the week “to enhance State agency collaboration to establish the cause of the fish mortalities in the River Blackwater catchment”. 

The statement said the IFI continues to update the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment on the matter, and that the five State agencies will meet again early next week.