Lough Neagh Action Plan
Not only does pollution continue, there is no effort to stop it!
David Browne
12 July 2024
A wild bird swims through green algae
on Lough Neagh.
In early July, the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) Minister Andrew Muir announced twenty actions his department would take to improve water quality, address the challenges in Lough Neagh and tackle blue green algae (BGA).
Those hoping that the catastrophe in Lough Neagh was finally being tackled were out of luck. Muir was just dishonestly using his position to bolster his vote in the polls. There is no sign of collective action by the local administration.
Slurry from agriculture continues to pour into Lough Neagh. Pollution has become the norm. Fourteen of the 18 confirmed reports of blue-green algae since February occurred in May alone, so we can expect the pollution to be as bad as ever this summer.
Lough Neagh Partnership’s manager says the number one problem that needs to be dealt with is ‘nutrient overload’ from farm slurry. Signs are up warning people to stay out of the water as the algae is toxic to pets and can make people sick. The farming sector accounts for 60% of it and that’s not just around the lough. It’s from the whole catchment area which is about 45% of the state’s area. Investment in sewage infrastructure and septic tanks needs to be addressed. NI Water needs £1.9 billion to upgrade its infrastructure to help stop sewage spills.
NI Water estimates that around 18 million tonnes of untreated waste water spilled into our rivers, lakes and seas last year in 24,521 separate incidents and they have a £900 million shortfall in terms of what they need to tackle the problem. Budget cuts means it doesn’t look likely that they will get funding anytime soon.
There are also appear to be gaps in terms of septic tank oversight. According to DAERA, around 145,000 homes discharge into our aquatic environment – including through septic tanks. They told us there are also 6,000 industrial and private sewage discharges and 2377 discharges from wastewater treatment plants. The massive fish kill is ongoing and has become the norm.
Here is one comment I recently read online, referring to similar pollution in Fermanagh:
“The algae bloom reaches all over, we live near Kesh and we used to take the kids down for a swim in what is known locally as the beach, for the past three years its been closed off due to algae it was leaving a slime coating on the kids…no more swimming there...and mind Fermanagh is large farm County”What is the cause of this crisis?
The fundamental cause is the inability of the state to regulate capitalism. This is reflected in the constant failure to prevent or contain climate change. This is especially the case in Britain, where privatisation of the water system saw the rampant decay of services and a brown stain around the British coast.
The operation of the Stormont executive amplifies the failure of the British. The system simply shares out power and patronage. There is no plan for Government and once a party gets control of a department they can do as they please.
In the case of Lough Neagh,
the DUP traditionally hold the Department of Agriculture. It’s the party
of big agri-business such as the Moy Park chicken empire and a far right
party committed to climate denial. Endless scandal surrounds their operation
of the department, but Sinn Féin remains silent, loyal to the sectarian
share out imposed by the British.
To make things worse, the
trade union movement is also silent. Their priority of upholding power
sharing / Stormont and the pretence that they can negotiate workers’ rights
through the local administration leaves them dumbstruck.
How are we to solve the catastrophe? Many call for the nationalisation of the Lough. While it is gratifying to picture the ousting of the feudal Lord Shaftesbury, by itself it solves little. Northern Ireland Water is state owned and oversees ongoing pollution.
One could confidently predict as zero the chances of the Lough Neagh disaster being solved without reform of the political system. By ‘reform’ this would need to be the end of the sectarian power sharing system and the distribution of patronage – that is a collapse of the various agreements starting with the Good Friday Agreement – all focused on keeping the status quo and, in the end, denying any real democracy or any independent voice for the people.
At the end of the day pollution is a class issue. The rich can build their own swimming pools and filter their own water. If workers want to protect themselves they will need to organise on their own behalf and shake off the grip of Sinn Féin and the trade union leadership.