10
INSHORE IRELAND June 2007
WATER MANAGEMENT
Spoil heaps: monuments to arterial draining programmes AS you drive north past the village of Ballinalack, Co. Westmeath, on the DublinSligo road, you cross the River Inny. Spoil heaps adorn the river corridor downstream of the road bridge. Arterial drainage operations involve widening and deepening channels throughout river basins. In schemes completed by 1973 under the 1945 Arterial Drainage Act, excavated material was stockpiled in spoil heaps parallel to the channel. After 1973, spoil was levelled out on riparian lands that were then top-soiled and reseeded. Since the completion of the Boyle scheme in December 1995, however, the Office of Public Works has not initiated any new arterial drainage schemes in Ireland, writes MARTIN O'FARRELL. The topic of spoil heaps has
featured
in
many
humorous
Da  il debates. In 1970, for example, parliamentary secretary to the Minister
for
Lemass
Finance (FF)
Ð
Ð
Noel
T.
commented:
``The drainage works are done primarily
for
the
benefit
of
farmers, to improve their land. Because
of
the
dumping
of
spoil and so on, some interference is unavoidable. It is not possible to make an omelette without breaking eggs.'' James
Tully
(Labour)
re-
torted, however: ``But it is not necessary to pile up the shells on the dining-room table?'' L e mas s:
``Un fo rt u na t el y,
spoil is unavoidable in drainage
drainage
work. Normally it is deposited
Bonet rivers, which was carried
as tidily as possible and where
out during the years 1982-1992,
possible the wishes of the land-
has a section that deals with
owner
spoil deposition and rehabilita-
are
instance,
consulted
whether
as,
he
for
would
prefer a narrow high heap or a wide low one. ``Arterial costly
and
drainage I
am
work
is
advised
it
would become an uneconomic proposition and might even be phased
out
obligation
if on
it
became
the
an
Commis-
sioners of Public Works to take away all those spoil heaps. The point is that it is not our purpose to leave the country unsightly with spoil heaps. We will keep the matter under review to do as much as we reasonably can to clear those spoil heaps away.'' The
Report
Fisheries
the
Inland
Commission
of
(1975)
had the following to say about
The Commissioners of Public Works have informed us that they have not been provided with funds to enable them to dispose of the spoil resulting from drainage work which in earlier years was usually piled on the river banks. The environmental shortcomings of former schemes still persist and we recommend that the Commissioners be empowered to deal with some at least of these, in the course of its maintenance work following consultation with the rating authorities.
spoil heaps:
The
1997
report
of
the
Comptroller & Auditor General
(CAG) on Value for Money Examination of the arterial
of
the
Boyle
and
tion.
It concluded: The general spoil rehabilitation policy operated by the OPW in carrying out the two schemes was to remove topsoil from adjacent land, spread the material excavated and re-cover with top soil. The landowner was subsequently compensated for the cost of re-seeding the area. In two cases, major rock quantities excavated were taken off site. Smaller rock volumes were piled on banks and farmers compensated for the loss of land. Post-project appraisal to assess the environmental effects of the spoil deposition practices is in this case difficult because of the lack of documented information about the pre-drainage status of the flora and fauna of the river banks and the adjacent land where spoil was buried. I do not know how many kilometres of Irish river corridors are currently blighted by the
presence
of
spoil
heaps.
According to the 1997 CAG report, a total of £7.9m was spent
on
maintaining
arterial
drainage schemes in 1996. Perhaps the Office of Public Works should consider directing some of its annual drainage maintenance
budget
towards
removing unsightly spoil heaps that are a major blot on the landscape.
The 1999 PriceWaterhouseCoopers report on the arterial drainage maintenance programme (report on measurement of return on investment) lists the following schemes as having been completed by 1973 (an additional 13 minor schemes are listed as having been completed by 1973): Arterial drainage scheme
such as this one outside Ballinalack, Co Westmeath.
Duration of work
Brosna Glyde & Dee Feale Corrib - Clare Maine Inny Deel Moy Corrib - Headford Nenagh Ballyteige-Kilmore Broadmeadow-Ward Killimor-Cappagh
* The Office of Public Works says ``environmental issues would arise'' from the removal of the spoil heaps
`No plans to remove blots on landscape'
1948 Ð 1955 1950 Ð 1957 1951 Ð 1959 1954 Ð 1964 1959 Ð 1963 1960 Ð 1968 1962 Ð 1968 1960 Ð 1971 1967 Ð 1973 1955 Ð 1960 1959 Ð 1961 1961 Ð 1964 1962 Ð 1968
INSHORE Ireland
put the following question to
the Office of Public Works: In all arterial drainage schemes carried out under the 1945 Arterial Drainage Act and which were completed before 1973 (Brosna, Glyde & Dee, Feale, Corrib- Clare, Maine, Inny, Deel, Moy,
Corrib-Headford,
Nenagh,
Cappagh-Kil-
crow etc), spoil dredged from the river bed was heaped on river banks. These unsightly spoil heaps have been in place for decades and continue to blot the landscape in many parts of the country.
Q: Has the OPW any plans to remove these spoil heaps? If not, does the OPW consider that their continued presence is acceptable?
The OPW do not have any plans to carry out remedial works to remove or rehabilitate the spoil heaps due to cost and environmental considerations. The cost of the works would be significant and it would be difficult to quantify benefit arising from same. Environmental issues would arise in relation to the removal of the spoil, as many spoil heaps would now have significant vegetation, tree growth etc. A:
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