Lusk Waste Watchers was officially launched last Wednesday 26th October in response to public outrage to a gigantic 20 hectare sewage treatment plant planned by Fingal County Council for the Fingal Area.  Nine potential sites have been identified, 4 of them are in Lusk.

Under the current proposal sewage from 7 County Councils is to be piped to Lusk for treatment and dispersal into the Irish Sea.

‘It is simply unacceptable and outrageous that Lusk, with a population of 6,000 in North County Dublin, should be asked to treat and dispose of sewage from 7 county council areas’, a spokesperson for Lusk Waste Watchers said. ‘Lusk has long been the dumping ground for County Dublin.  The area has had Balleally super dump for the last 40 years, a prison and the parish also holds the site at the Nevitt identified for the new proposed super dump. We have had enough.  We will not treat and dispose of sewage from the entire county.’

“We’ve been betrayed,” said one resident, as speaker after speaker outlined the “sell out” of the heritage village by Fingal County Council. This story goes right back some 6 years when at the very peak of the then Celtic Tiger the Greater Dublin Drainage Project was rolled out, at a cost of € 2.6 billion – yes billion. “At the most basic level there is no way that this can be funded and the whole thing is absolute nonsense” said another angry Lusk resident. See www.greaterdublindrainage.ie and which incidentally has its offices in Dun Laoghaire.

A spokesperson for the newly formed action group Lusk Waste Watchers said “Put simply Fingal Co Co had decided to take it upon themselves to act as a wholesale sewage treatment processor to not just one but to 7 County Councils and they have agreed to process the sewage waste of over 700,000 bums through a new plant to be based at Lusk. The size of this new wholesaling monster waste plant is a massive 20 hectares which is equivalent to more than 3 times the entire area of Croke Park or the Aviva Stadium  – so the scale of this sewage treatment plant is truly gigantic and the sea outfall pipe would be like creating an M50 of a sewage pipeline ripping through the beautiful landscape of North County Dublin.

Fingal are offering to process the sewage waste of not just Fingal but for parts of South County Dublin, Dun Laoghaire & Rathdown, Wicklow, Kildare and Meath, and yes some 700,000 bums per day are to be processed by the sleepy little North County heritage village of Lusk which is as you may know is the beautiful market garden of Dublin growing some of the most wonderful tasting vegetables in Ireland. What will happen to the Lusk market garden now?

Senior local business leaders are all up in arms not to mention the local Irish Farmers Association, Irish Horticultural Society, Heritage Ireland, Bord Glas, Irish Country Women’s Association to mention but a few. They (Fingal Co Co) approached this with stealth, taking a mushroom management approach which is despicable” said one business leader.   

“But Lusk has a population of just 6,000 people in the village area” said one resident – “yes that is correct” the speaker replied – “so what has all of this got to do with us. We don’t mind processing our own sewage waste but we are not processing everyone else’s waste as well”. 

A spokesperson from Lusk Waste Watchers later said “The job of work required here is to save not just our Lusk Heritage Village but it may also include the local communities of Skerries, Rush and Man O War who Fingal will target next so the urgency and danger of all of this cannot be understated.

This is all very very serious indeed and everyone needs to row in and in a united way so as to take on the might of these massively funded Councils. The little folk have to win here on this one its David Vs Goliath – its that simple, we have to fight back on this one as we owe it to our children and the buggy’s will be lined up in Fingal City Hall Offices in Swords, we are simply not accepting this for our heritage village. “I hope that they like diapers because they will be getting lots of them” said another Lusk Waste Watcher spokesperson.

It is quite remarkable how quickly and how ferociously the people of Lusk have amassed and become empowered by the whole thing. The energy and determination to fight this battle against Fingal Co Co is incredible. “The Council have no idea what they have done or who they have taken on for they have awoken an angry sleeping bear in the people of Lusk” said a spokesman.

“Its all a bit like the Chinese “Saving face” idea as Fingal County Council is unprepared to admit to the waste of the € 17m that has been spent already on survey after survey and report after report and with not one pipe laid to justify what we all know is just crazy - € 2.8 billion in these times and trying to destroy village after village in the process.

Reports have all shown that the modular method of each community treating its own waste is a lot less expensive in plant build terms and is a lot more acceptable within the community. We are taking legal advice on this waste of € 17m of public money as we question the constitutionality of the paying out all of this money on a Celtic Tiger feasibility study of a massive giant waste treatment plant that no one wants and which cannot be funded.

Do you seriously think Finance Minister Michael Noonan or Taoiseach Enda Kenny will allow the expenditure of € 2.8 billion to be spent at a time when the country is going with our bowl to the EU and IMF to fund its day to day borrowings. Do they think that the EU who are hanging onto their purse strings very tightly are going to fund it either – no its all bloody nonsense and Fingal and Greater Dublin Drainage should crawl back into their box and thank God that they have jobs with massive unemployment – how dare they waste our money. “Fingal Co Co need to be taught the same lessons as Fás” said the Lusk Waste Watchers spokesperson. 

Donabate / Portrane was the first target in 2005 and little did Fingal Co Co realise what they were up against as the people there simply rose up in vast numbers and people power took over. Fairshare is an action group from Donabate/Portrane peninsula who fought and took on the might of these well funded councils and they have so far managed to successfully stop the Giant treatment plant going there. See www.fairshare.ie

Fairshare is a single issue campaign group dedicated to stopping the imposition of a regional sewage plant on the Donabate/Portrane peninsula. Fairshare considers this proposed plant to be unfair. The community is prepared to take its share. The people of the Donabate/Portrane peninsula have already agreed to take a fairshare pro-rata sewage plant to serve the needs of Portrane, Donabate, Rush and Lusk.

“So why pick on Lusk,” said another resident. “Well that’s pretty simple” said the speaker, “its because Fingal Co Co think that they can get away with it.  They have now given up on Donabate / Portrane as a location and having wasted that € 17m, it’s now the turn of Lusk Heritage Village.

They are taking the path of least resistance and they think that they can get away with it with the heritage village of Lusk and that they will get away with it unless the people of Lusk stop them. It won’t just end at Lusk either, then they will have a go at Skerries or Rush or Man O War or any other place that they think they will get away with it, yet the fundamentals of the thing do not stack up.

“Water treatment is the nice word that is used but it is basically that all of the crap is removed from the water when the toilet is flushed and which is then processed into “nuggets”. These are then taken out of the water and are loaded onto trucks which will then be disposed of and the treated water is returned for reuse ” said a Lusk Waste Watcher spokesperson.

“It is estimated that it will take at least 32,000 forty foot truckloads of nuggets crap out of Lusk every year and the traffic and congestion will be incredible, even with the nearby M1 motorway and then of course there will be the stench.

With the main prevailing South West winds around this area, this will mean that there will be a constant smell in the area and nothing can really be done to fully offset this and when the summer comes – well you can work it out yourselves”.

“That’s outrageous,” said another at the meeting, “there has not been as much damage done in this area since the Black and Tans. Fingal Co Co has sold us out. They would not dream of trying such a stunt in Howth or Malahide or God forbid the Borough of Dun Laoghaire & Rathdown all of which are far more central to the sea outfall” said another resident.

So why have Fingal County Council decided to offer this wholesale sewage treatment service to 7 County Councils? Well the answer to that is pretty simple really and that is that they think they can and that they will get away with it and of course they are driven by greed and by money.

Look at the statistics of which Councils are making money and most are not, but Fingal Co Co is doing okay and of course this will be a new and highly lucrative revenue stream for them. 

Tempers were running high as more and more information was given about the devastating effects of the flushing of 700,000 bums a day into a giant sewerage plant in Lusk. So what can you do if you live in or around the areas of Lusk, Rush, Skerries, Donabate, Man O War - well there is a number of things that can be done. Lusk Waste Watchers gave us the following information.

Said a spokesperson “There are so called “Public Meetings” of Fingal rolling out their treachery of which there are two meetings left at Fingal County Hall Swords on Thursday 3rd November from 2pm to 8pm and Saturday 5th November from 11am to 4pm. I think you will find that they have an answer for everything and just remember that 17m that they have spent to sell it so far and it hasn’t worked as the truth will always come out. Lusk has done its fairshare in allowing otherwise politically unacceptable facilities into our area but enough is enough.”

“Its very important not to give up or to think we are powerless or that there is no point in trying to prevent all of this which will go ahead anyway. Well we can say NO is the short answer to that and PEOPLE POWER can and does make a difference.

No one is above the people as Mr Gadaffi and Fás management found out the hard way and the arrogance of Fingal County Council is unbelievable, They all ought to be bloody well ashamed of themselves for the way that they have sold out the people of North County Dublin and Lusk Heritage Village – how dare they. You can volunteer and you will be asked to help fund the battle ahead. Let your neighbours know what is going on” said the Lusk Waste Watcher spokesperson.

A lot of information is available on their website www.luskwastewatchers.com. You can make a submission or write or email to lodge an objection or submission to Greater Dublin Drainage, RSP Group, West Pier Business Campus, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin email info@greaterdublindrainage.ie or look at the website www.greaterdublindrainage.ie