Luxembourg, 26/11/2002 (Agence Europe) - The European Court of Justice has condemned Ireland for having allowed drinking water containing faecal cloriforms for which European directives apply "zero tolerance". Several hundreds of thousands of people are said to be concerned. The incriminated distribution networks are certain public networks, but especially the "Group Water Schemes" managed by local co-operatives. These "Group Water Schemes" are connected to public or private catchment areas (sources, wells, rivers and lakes).
The Court's sixth Chamber recalls that the 1980 directive on the quality of drinking water lays down an obligation to achieve a particular result and not a mere duty of diligence.
For Ireland, the 1980 European directive did not apply to private water distribution networks. It based itself on a Court ruling of 1990, "Commission/Belgium". The sixth chamber states that the 1990 ruling only concerned wells and private catchment areas where water is extracted by an individual for their own use, which is not the case here.
The Commission had noted that between 1993 and 1998, for certain public water supply sources, "concentrations of faecal coliforms are frequently high". Ecologists and experts believe that the situation has not really improved since then.
The Irish Government recognised that the main causes of water pollution in rural regions stemmed from effluent from farmyards, stables, sceptic tanks, silage slabs.
The European Commission received complaints from ecologists from the locality of Ballycroy, County Mayo.
Another complaint concerned the building that houses the European Commission's Veterinary and Food Office, in Grenge, County Meath. It was linked to a polluted network (the building has its own water purification plant: Ed.).
Experts also point out that since 1991, Ireland publishes yearly report on the quality of drinking water. They are only a few to do so in the European Union. This transparency does not excuse it, but nevertheless gives it a "good mark", they remark.
The ONG Friends of the Irish Environment" welcomed this ruling, stressing the obligation to come up with results that Ireland is held to procure water 100% exempt of coliforms. Other than what this NGO has said, this ruling seems not to have led to much reaction from European or Irish circles.
The legal experts also recall that this ruling has an immediate consequence: anyone considering having suffered injury may ask for compensation from the Irish State, before a national judge (EUROPE recalls that according to the so-called "fishermen's brewery" case, liability of a Member state clicks-in when a European directive is not respected).