In yet more sewage news, the newly formed Northern Ireland Water Ltd has already come under fire over raw sewage flowing into Larne Lough, an internationally protected haven for wildlife. One month after the powers and assets of the Water Service were transferred to the new public company, it has been warned to upgrade Ballystrudder Wastewater Treatment Works (WTW) on Islandmagee. As a public company, Northern Ireland Water is no longer protected by Crown Immunity, which for years has protected various Government branches from being sued by one another. However, as a result of the poor state of its inherited infrastructure, Northern Ireland Water will have a stay of execution, but only until 2008.
Despite this, the Environment and Heritage Service (EHS) has warned Northern Ireland Water that it may face legal action if the highly polluting sewage continues to pump into the lough. In fact they have already issued a consent under the Water (Northern Ireland) Order SI 1999/662 for the Ballystrudder site, which means secondary treatment must be provided within a "reasonable timescale" or the wastewater be pumped to a more suitable location. However, Northern Ireland Water argued that they have already agreed a programme with the EHS, for a project combining Ballystrudder, Ballycarry and Whitehead effluents for treatment, which should be completed by 2010.
