For Inspection Purposes Only. Consent of Copyright Owner Required for Any Other Use

For inspection purposes only. Consent of copyright owner required for any other use.

EPA Export 26-07-2013:15:53:01 For inspection purposes only. Consent of copyright owner required for any other use.

EPA Export 26-07-2013:15:53:02 For inspection purposes only. Consent of copyright owner required for any other use.

EPA Export 26-07-2013:15:53:02 Kildare County Council Kildare D0178-01

This is a response to Further Information Request due on the 15th of September 2009. Q 7 and Q 8.

Reference: D0178-01 (Kildare).

Question 7. Confirm whether there are any other known plans or projects that may have an in-combination effect on the River Barrow aquatic environment. Provide a description and assessment where applicable.

In response to Question 7, known plans or projects that may be having an in-combination effect on the Site (River Barrow cSAC 002162) are identified through the screening process for Appropriate Assessment, as follows.

Stage 1 – Initial Screening

Step 1 – Management of the Site

The plan is not directly connected with or necessary to the management of the site.

Step 2 – Description of Plan or Project The Kildare Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) is located just outside of Kildare Town. The WWTP is situated between the Tully Stream and the N7. The WWTP has a design capacity of 9,700 population equivalent For inspection (P.E.) purposes. The only. WWTP comprises of inlet works with Consent of copyright owner required for any other use. screen and grit traps, followed by primary sedimentation and high rate biological & percolating filters. Phosphorus dosing is carried out before the final settlement and clarifying stage. The dewatering facility comprises of sludge thickening, Polyelectrolyte make up and centrifuge before the sludge is removed off site to Osberstown WWTP sludge treatment facility.

It is proposed to upgrade the treatment plant commencing in 2010 to a design capacity of 28,000PE. The upgrade will be in two phases comprising of an initial phase to provide a capacity of 14,000PE1 and will remove the discharge point from the Tully Stream and it will discharge directly into the River Barrow. The outfall from the existing Kildare Town WWTP discharges to the Tully Stream, which is situated approximately 700m downstream from the Kildare Town WWTP (co-ordinates: E 273402, N 210747).

1 Information source – Kildare Town WWTP Application for Waste Discharge Licence; www.epa.ie Page 1 of 6

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It is necessary to consider this project in combination with other plans/projects in the catchment impacting on the aquatic environment. Kildare Town WWTP is situated about 10km west of Monasterevin WWTP which discharges to the River Barrow and Rathangan WWTP is located approximately 9km north of Kildare Town and discharges to the Slate River. There is one IPPC licensed facility in Kildare Town that discharges treated effluent (primary, secondary & tertiary treatment) to the foul sewer system, prior to discharging to the Tully Stream. There is also one Section 4 licensed facility which discharges treated effluent (primary and secondary treatment) into the Tully Stream. With the proposed upgrade of the Kildare Town WWTP it is planned that both companies will connect directly into the new upgraded WWTP with the proposed outfall to the River Barrow.

The Monasterevin WWTP is located on the western side of Monasterevin Town. The WWTP treats wastewater from the Monasterevin Town area and has a design capacity of 9000 (PE). The treatment process within the WWTP has been designed so that the WWTP can operate to 6000 PE initially, increasing to 9000 PE when required.

The River Barrow flows through Portarlington forming the borders between Counties Offaly and Laois. Portarlington WWTP in Co. Laois discharges to the River Barrow upstream of Monasterevin. It has a capacity of approximately 8,000 P.E. and a current load of 7,000 P.E. However, it is committed to a capacity of 9,000PE through granted planning permissions to For inspection purposes only. Consent of copyright owner required for any other use. 2 date. The WWTP consists of Preliminary, Primary, Secondary and Tertiary treatment .

Development of the Portarlington region during the few last years has led to the overloading of the existing WWTP. The WWTP is proposed to be upgraded as part of the Water Services Investment Programme with an estimated completion date of 2014. Portarlington WWTP is an extended aeration plant consisting of preliminary treatment, full nitrification and denitrification of the wastewater in an extended aeration tank, secondary clarification and sludge treatment3.

Step 3 – Characteristics of Site The WWTP discharges treated effluent into the Tully Stream, the River flows in a southerly direction for approximately 18km where it enters the main channel of the River Barrow Site

2 Information sourced from the Portarlington Waste Discharge Licence application to the EPA www.epa.ie 3 Information source: Portarlington WWTP Application for Waste Discharge Licence; www.epa.ie Page 2 of 6

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(Code 002162). The River Barrow is 192km long and the catchment area is approximately 2,983km2. The main tributaries of the River Barrow coming from the Kildare Town area are the Black Gutter Stream and the Tully Stream. The Site is a candidate SAC selected for alluvial wet woodlands and petrifying springs, priority habitats on Annex 1 of the E.U. Habitats Directive. The site is also selected as a candidate SAC for old oak woodlands, floating river vegetation, estuary, tidal mudflats, Salicornia mudflats, Atlantic salt meadows, Mediterranean salt meadows, dry heath and eutrophic tall herbs, all habitats listed on Annex I of the E.U. Habitats Directive. The Site is also selected for the following species listed on Annex II of the same directive – Sea Lamprey, River Lamprey, Brook Lamprey, Freshwater Pearl Mussel, Nore Freshwater Pearl Mussel, Crayfish, Twaite Shad, Atlantic Salmon, Otter, Vertigo moulinsiana and the plant Killarney Fern4.

Table 1 below shows the physiochemical results of upstream and downstream grab samples from the Tully Stream taken by the Water Services Section for Kildare Town WWTP in 2008:

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4 Information source: EU Habitats Directive Draft Conservation Objectives for the Site (River Barrow cSAC 002162) Page 3 of 6

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Table 1: UPSTREAM

B.O.D. NH3 Total P C.O.D. S.S. Date mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l pH 21/05/2008 2 0.16 0.05 20 20 7.7 28/072008 4 0.5 0.15 84 17 7.5 29/07/2008 2 0.1 0.23 8 1 7.6 12/08/2008 1 0.5 0.23 10 1 7.37 14/08/2008 1 0.1 0.13 6 5 7.56 15/08/2008 2 0.1 0.2 16 1 7.7 Total 12 1.46 0.99 144 45 45.43 Mean 2 0.24 0.165 24 7.5 7.57 E.Q.S5. ≤1.5 ≤0.065 ≤0.035 N/A N/A N/A

DOWNSTREAM

B.O.D. NH3 Total P C.O.D. S.S. Date mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l pH 21/05/2008 6 3.7 0.3 47 10 7.5 28/07/2008 6 0.9 0.15 83 1 7.39 29/07/2008 3 1 0.48 3 1 7.54 12/08/2008 1 0.1 0.7 35 1 7.39 14/08/2008 2 0.1 0.53 20 5 7.53 15/08/2008 1 0.2 1.42 17 1 7.67 Total 19 6 3.58 205 19 45.02

Mean 3.2 1 For inspection0.59 purposes only. 34.2 3.2 7.5 Consent of copyright owner required for any other use. E.Q.S. ≤1.5 ≤0.065 ≤0.035 N/A N/A N/A

The Environmental Quality Standard (E.Q.S) Values are exceeded in both the upstream and downstream sample results. The downstream Biological Oxygen Demand (B.O.D), Total Ammonia (NH3) & Total Phosphorous (Total P) exceed the upstream values suggesting a deterioration in the water quality due to the discharge from Kildare Town WWTP and the IPPC licensed facility. The results in Table 1 are also reflected in the Q rating downstream of the discharge point on the Tully Stream at Kilberrin Bridge (Grid Reference: S717073), which was Q2 (seriously polluted) in 2006. However the Finnery River joins the Tully Stream prior to its confluence with the River Barrow causing the Q rating to improve to Q 3-4 at Cloney Bridge.

5 E.Q.S: European Communities Environmental Objectives (Surface Waters) Regulations 2009, S.I. No. 272 of 2009, Schedule 5:Table 9 Part A. Page 4 of 6

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There is an IPPC licensed facility operating in Nurney approximately 8km South of Kildare Town. There are no direct discharges to surface waters from this facility, all organic waste produced on site is transported off site for land spreading. This activity would be unlikely to affect the quality of the Barrow River.

Step 4 – Assessment of Significance The initial screening process involved answering the questions of the flow diagram in circular L8/08 “Water Services Investment and Rural Water Programmes” issued by the DoEHLG to determine if an appropriate assessment is required. 1. Is the development in a nature conservation site? NO 2a. Is the development in the surface water catchment of a nature conservation site (or part of such a site)? Yes 3. Are the qualifying habitats and species of the site water dependant? Yes 5. Is there a WFD sub-basin for the site or its protected habitats/species? Yes 6. Does the plan cover all potential receptors (habitats/species)? NO

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ASSESS IMPACTS

The WWTP is located in the catchment of a nature conservation site (cSAC). The assessment of this project in combination with others in the catchment has shown that there is an impact on the Site.

Screening for Appropriate Assessment carried out in accordance with Circular L8/08 and the EPA Waste Discharge Licensing guidance note on Appropriate Assessments for the purposes of the Waste Water Discharge (Authorisation) Regulations, 2007 (S.I. No. 684 of

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2007), has shown that an Appropriate Assessment is required for Kildare WWTP to assess the impacts of the project on the European Site.

Question 8. Confirm the conservation objectives applicable to the designated site to which SW-1 will discharge to surface water.

Please see the attached “Conservation Objectives”.

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Page 6 of 6

EPA Export 26-07-2013:15:53:02 Conservation Objectives European and national legislation places a collective obligation on Ireland and its citizens to maintain at favourable conservation status areas designated as candidate Special Areas of Conservation. The Government and its agencies are responsible for the implementation and enforcement of regulations that will ensure the ecological integrity of these sites. According to the EU Habitats Directive, favourable conservation status of a habitat is achieved when: • its natural range, and area it covers within that range, is stable or increasing, and • the ecological factors that are necessary for its long-term maintenance exist and are likely to continue to exist for the foreseeable future, and • the conservation status of its typical species is favourable as defined below. The favourable conservation status of a species is achieved when: • population data on the species concerned indicate that it is maintaining itself, and • the natural range of the species is neither being reduced or likely to be reduced for the foreseeable future, and • there is, and will probably continue to be, a sufficiently large habitat to maintain its populations on a long-term basis.

Objective 1: To maintain the Annex I habitats for which the cSAC has been selected at favourable conservation status: Estuaries; Mudflats and sandflats not covered by seawater at low tide; Salicornia and other annuals colonising mud and sand; Atlantic salt meadows (Glauco-Puccinellietalia maritimae); Mediterranean salt For inspection purposes only. meadowsConsent of copyright (Juncetalia owner required maritimi); for any other Water use. courses of plain to montane levels with the Ranunculion fluitantis and Callitricho-Batrachion vegetation; European dry heaths; Hydrophilous tall herb fringe communities of plains and of the montane to alpine levels; Petrifying springs with tufa formation (Cratoneurion); Old sessile oak woods with Ilex and Blechnum in British Isles; Alluvial forests with Alnus glutinosa and Fraxinus excelsior (Alno-Padion, Alnion incanae, Salicion albae) Objective 2: To maintain the Annex II species for which the cSAC has been selected at favourable conservation status: Vertigo moulinsiana; Margaritifera margaritifera; Austropotamobius pallipes; Petromyzon marinus; Lampetra planeri; Lampetra fluviatilis; Alosa fallax; Salmo salar; Lutra lutra; Trichomanes speciosum; Margaritifera durrovensis Objective 3: To maintain the extent, species richness and biodiversity of the entire site Objective 4: To establish effective liaison and co-operation with landowners, legal users and relevant authorities.

EPA Export 26-07-2013:15:53:02 For inspection purposes only. Consent of copyright owner required for any other use.

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EPA Export 26-07-2013:15:53:03