THE Minister for the Environment, Mr Howlin, has intervened in the continuing Nenagh water crisis by asking North Tipperary County Council to speed up work on an £11 million regional water scheme to supply the town.
"It is expected that this will allow the completion date to be brought forward by some three months so that water from the new scheme will be available in February," Mr Howlin said yesterday.
The scheme involves providing a new treatment works, reservoir and pipes to bring water from phosphate polluted Lough Derg, treat it in a new waterworks at Coolbawn and then pipe it to Nenagh.
He said the main priority now was to find a temporary supply of clean water for the town - many people have had to depend on tankers since August following a pollution incident.
The Minister said seven wells had been drilled at four separate sites but some of these were unsuitable either because of quantity or quality.
Work is ongoing on the drilling and testing of the seventh well and results should be available within a few days."
Mr Howlin has requested the Environmental Protection Agency to examine the extent of groundwater pollution and the need for a hydro geological survey of the Nenagh area.
