#CoastalNotes - Seven large urban coastal areas are among more than 40 towns nationwide still seeing untreated sewage released into the water supply, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) warns.
According to RTÉ News, the EPA says the current situation is in breach of an EU directive issued more than two decades ago.
Yet three large towns – Killybegs in Co Donegal, Ringaskiddy on Cork Harbour and Arklow in Co Wicklow - have been waiting some 13 years for secondary wastewater treatment facilities.
Moreover, it's been found that nearly a third of established secondary treatment plants nationwide do not meet the EU's main effluent standards, prompting serious pollution concerns.
Clifden in Co Galway and the Co Cork towns of Youghal, Cobh and Passage West have also been identified among the bigger urban areas still discharging untreated wastewater into coastal waters.
The news comes just weeks after it was discovered that effluent from an entire town in Co Galway is being piped into a Special Area of Conservation.
RTÉ News has more on the story HERE.