Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 5 Nov 2003

Vol. 573 No. 4

County Galway Landslide.

Mr. Callanan

The people of Derrybrien in south Galway are worried due to the environmental disaster that has taken place as a result of the recent landslide. Roads are blocked, the local river is polluted with all fish life extinguished, while lands are destroyed. Lough Cutra is also affected. This evening water supplies for the town of Gort have turned brown and Galway County Council is monitoring the quality of drinking water.

Although it has not yet been proved, local people indicate that quarrying and boring at Hibernian wind farm during the construction of bases for 75 turbines may have caused the wet bog to run off the mountain causing the landslide. There are questions to be answered. Why did An Bord Pleanála grant planning permission for the project which had been turned down by Galway County Council? Were sufficient structural surveys undertaken on the mountain? Did the company have planning permission for the quarry? It is time Hibernian wind farm acted responsibly and got its consultants, ESB International, to work with Galway County Council to ensure the landslide is halted as there is evidence that much more material will run and cause untold damage to the people of Derrybrien. In the interests of the wind farm industry, Hibernian wind farm should decide to cease work completely on the mountain for good.

I call on the Government to make emergency funds available to Galway County Council which is doing a great job under its director of services, Mr. Eugene Cummins, to make the area safe. The project has gone terribly wrong and the people of Derrybrien must be protected. No further turbines should be constructed. The community is worried and needs our help. It does not deserve this.

Mr. Connaughton

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for giving me the opportunity to raise this matter with my colleagues. With no disrespect to the Minister of State, Deputy Gallagher, I had expected to see a senior Minister present, as had the people of Derrybrien, although the man sitting before us may be better than many of those who are not here.

I took away an image from a packed public meeting in Derrybrien, County Galway, last Monday night of a small community under siege which did not know to whom it should turn or on whom it should depend. Make no mistake about it, the landslide was dangerous and frightening and put the community in a quandary in terms of how it should move forward. It also has ramifications for future wind energy policy.

There was a great deal of anger and recrimination at the meeting which was well structured and excellently run. All stakeholders attended and put their side of the story as best they could but the people of Derrybrien want answers to many questions. They do not want a return to work by Hibernian wind farm until there is an independent assessment of the reasons the landslide happened but, more importantly, they want somebody to quantify the possibility of whether landslides will happen in the future. The community is certain that interference by the company at the top of the mountain when laying the foundations contributed to the landslide.

The company has important questions to answer. Did it breach planning regulations by building bigger windmills than those for which it had received planning permission? Did the planning permission cover quarrying for stone which necessitated blasting? What assessment was carried out on the blanket bog before work started – as one man put it so well last Monday night – to put 71 huge windmills in a mushy, wet and boggy place? What will happen to water quality in Lough Cutra which is already showing signs of pollution? What will be the long-term problems in supplying Gort town with a new water scheme from the lough? Who will pay for the clean up? Will farmers whose lands have been ruined receive adequate compensation?

The long-term future of the site is clearly centre stage. Can an independent body with access to all records and the best possible data, using the best possible professional advice available, make the type of assessment required which will quantify the possibility of whether landslides will happen in the future? Great work is being done by Galway County Council. The traps the company is putting in place seem to have a certain use but I remain unconvinced that if another large landslide begins to meander down the side of the slope, given its contents, any trap will be able to hold it. Until that time comes I ask Hibernian Wind Power not to work on the hill until everyone is reassured that no landslide will occur.

Mr. McHugh

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for giving me the opportunity to join my colleagues in raising this matter.

The landslides, or peat slides, have caused devastation to the Derrybrien area and great anxiety to the people living there. I visited the area of the landslides on the first weekend they occurred. On that occasion the slides, while disturbing and alarming, were nothing compared with what occurred subsequently. It is regrettable that more preventive measures were not taken in the initial period after the first slide when the situation was relatively stable. The fact that this lapse occurred is an indictment of everybody involved. Complacency set in and there was, perhaps, even an attempt by some to play down the significance of the slide. If proper action had been taken at the time, the subsequent slides would not have occurred or, at least, the resultant damage of the subsequent slides would have been greatly minimised.

There is a message for the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and he cannot wash his hands of the matter. There are lessons to be learned which can be applied to any area of the country. I am extremely disappointed with the responses I have received from the Minister. His response has been that he will "remain in touch". Remaining in touch is not a good enough approach when there are numerous issues and unanswered questions arising from this disaster.

There are planning issues. What level of consulation did An Bord Pleanála give to the wind farm application? Were proper studies done and proper reports sought? Why, for instance, did the concern that led to the refusal of the gas terminal building in County Mayo not give rise to a concern here? The reason for refusal in County Mayo was that An Bord Pleanála was not satisfied that the peat could be stockpiled safely. Why the apparent discrepency in standards? The Minister needs to supply the answers because An Bord Pleanála will not.

The whole area of compliance with planning regulations and the issue of the possibility of unauthorised development taking place need to be examined. Has the Minister asked Galway County Council to examine the issue? If not, will he do so?

An issue arises in relation to work practices on the site. Has the Health and Safety Authority carried out a thorough investigation of work practices engaged in by the wind farm company? I understand officials of the authority were on the site but what was the outcome of its investigations? What was the extent of the investigations? I know this does not come under the remit of the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government but I ask him to engage with his colleagues to establish the level of scrutiny engaged in by the authority.

There is an issue in relation to the continuation or intensification of works on the site. Is it safe to continue the works or would a continuation lead to further destabilisation of the peat and further devastation?

There is an issue in relation to liability for the current situation. Questions are being asked. I know it is too early to arrive at a definitive answer but when that time arrives, will the Minister give an undertaking that the Government will ensure that, from whatever source it comes, adequate compensation will be paid to rectify the damage to property, roads, bridges and water courses? Will adequate compensation be paid to restock the river to replace the dead fish? Will resources be made available to rectify the damage caused to Lough Cutra, the water supply for Gort and surrounding areas? I urge the Minister to take a personal interest in this matter. If further movement occurs and the drinking water supply for the town of Gort becomes polluted, all hell will break loose.

The efforts of Galway County Council in relation to this problem have been heroic but its resources are limited and it needs help. All efforts need to be co-ordinated. This should be done by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.

Mr. Gallagher

I thank Deputies Callanan, Connaughton and McHugh for raising this important issue and express the sympathy of the Government to everyone affected by the recent landlslides in County Galway. This has been a traumatic time for everyone involved.

I will outline to the House the position on the landslides as has been communicated to my Department from Galway County Council. A landslide occurred in the townland of Derrybrien north, County Galway, in the Slieve Aughty Mountains at a location approximately 17 km east of the town of Gort. The slippage commenced on the afternoon of Thursday, 16 October on a site being developed as a wind farm by Hibernian Wind Power, a subsidiary of ESB International. Galway County Council was notified of the slippage by an engineer from ESB International. The Minister, Deputy Cullen and I were both notified of the situation by our colleague, Deputy Treacy, who together with my party colleague, Deputy Callanan, has been in constant touch with my Department regarding this serious issue.

Galway County Council's senior executive engineer for the area went to the site that evening and arranged to have the local road, 8211, closed to the public. Council staff also erected a barrier to halt the progress of the slide and took some measures to filter silt from the waters coming from the slippage material. The situation was constantly monitored by the county council and on Saturday, 18 October an examination from the air and ground was carried out by senior engineering personnel from the county council. An environmental monitoring regime with respect to waters downstream of the landslip has been in place since 18 October.

Following an initial preliminary assessment of the area by geotechnical experts from NUI Galway, the county council appointed BMA GeoServices, a firm of experienced consultants with geotechnical expertise, to carry out a comprehensive investigation of the landslip events, the draining of the wind farm site and its effects on slope stability and the effect of rainfall stability. The firm commenced work on the site on 25 October and provided its preliminary report for the county council on 3 November.

The county council also met ESB International and Hibernian Wind Power on 28 October. The company representatives undertook to carry out all remediation works and accept responsibility for them. They accepted and undertook to co-operate with the county council's regulatory and monitoring role. They informed the county council of a proposed action plan, the outlines of which include: a geotechnical survey of the complete site; establishment of monitoring points measuring the thickness of peat; re-establishing all pre-existing drainage paths; proposals for remediation works which, in the first instance, addressed the existing landslides; cessation of all construction works on the wind farm – these will not resume until the stability of the area can be assured while the Health and Safety Authority has been informed of the situation; and the developers to carry out a review of their construction methodology and complete it before any further works might take place in connection with the development of the wind farm. An official of my Department also met ESB International and Hibernian Wind Power on 31 October, at their request, to receive a briefing from the companies on the situation and the steps they were taking to control the landslide.

The landslide now extends for a distance of approximately 3.2 km, having crossed the local road, 8211, and passed under a bridge known as Flaggy Bridge, on the Regional road, R353, from Gort to Portumna. No inhabited dwellings have been affected by the landslide but one unoccu pied house is surrounded by peat and an outhouse associated with that dwelling, has been demolished. Some damage has been caused to parapet walls at Flaggy Bridge, on the R353.

Galway County Council continues to monitor and respond to the landslide in co-operation with all local interests. The slide has been halted and it is hoped to reopen the R353 which has been closed since 30 October. Measures such as the creation of silt ponds are being taken to minimise potential pollution to Lough Cutra.

As indicated to the House in replies to Questions Nos. 673, 674 and 711 yesterday, my Department will maintain liaison with and support, as appropriate, the efforts of Galway County Council in dealing with the causes and effects of the landslide at Derrybrien. My Department will also remain in touch with Galway County Council in regard to any necessary works to reinstate public roads or bridges in the area.

Regarding the effect on public water supplies, I understand that the extraction point for the Gort water supply scheme is located more than 6 km downstream on Lough Cutra on the Ceannahowna River. The supply from the river is supplemented by boreholes located in the town itself, which are unaffected by recent events. Galway County Council is reasonably confident that because of the distance involved and the fact that the river goes underground for some time after leaving Lough Cutra, the Gort water supply should not be adversely affected. In the event that water quality in the river is affected, the council has contingency plans which would involve cutting off the river intake, maximising supply from the boreholes – which provide about 30% of the town's current needs – and tankering in water to deal with any shortages. The council will also consider tankering water to households closer to the scene of the landslide if the need arises. The council is monitoring the position on the ground and is ready to put the water supply contingency plans into operation immediately, should it become necessary.

In addition to public water supply sampling, regular monitoring samples have been taken by the council along the stretch of the affected waterway and further downstream as appropriate. The Shannon Regional Fisheries Board has also undertaken a wide sampling programme and taken preventative action where possible. It will conduct a full assessment of the river in order to ascertain the full scale of the fish kills. The river habitat is expected to take some time to recover. However, a habitat rehabilitation programme can be put together locally and ESB International has indicated it will assist with the resources required for this, as well as any expansion of the water monitoring programme, required by Galway County Council.

The council reports that no homes have as yet been affected by the landslide. However, it has contingency plans in place should things change and my Department would refund to the council 90% of the costs of alternative accommodation in such circumstances.

I am satisfied that the efforts of the council and all relevant State agencies, as well as the action plan of ESB-Hibernian Wind Power, should provide strong reassurance to the local community that its immediate concerns are being addressed to the greatest possible extent. The outcome of investigations and reviews will inform the rehabilitation of the environment in the area and its future protection. Of course we will keep the House informed in this regard. I pay tribute to Galway County Council for the trojan work it is doing.

The Dáil adjourned at 9.25 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Thursday, 6 November 2003.