Kerry devastated by mudslide
Countless millions of dollars of damage to property and wildlife was caused by the worst mudslide in Ireland in five years.
An estimated 3,000 salmon and sea trout were wiped out and their spawning grounds contaminated when liquid peat seeped into the Rivers Smearlagh and Feale in north-east Kerry.
More than 20 homes in a rural area between Tralee and Castleisland were cut off by a mudslide a mile and a half long and up to 75 yards wide last weekend. Miraculously, there were no human injuries.
Emergency services started a clean-up operation which locals said could last several weeks.
Up to 25,000 people were ordered to boil water for human consumption after the main supply for the area was affected.
Experts said the mudslide stopped just short of creating an ecological disaster.
The Shannon Region Fisheries Board said no fish remained in rivers and streams in the affected spawning grounds in the Stacks Mountains. Thousands of young salmon and sea trout were wiped out in the tributaries of the Smearlagh River.
The full effects of the landslide on the Smearlagh and Feale rivers may are unlikely to be known for five to 10 years, because of the migratory pattern of the life cycle of the fish.
Eamon Cusack, chief executive of the board, said the landslide was particularly unfortunate in that these rivers had managed over the years to retain good, healthy stocks of salmon and sea trout.
He feared that the gravel beds of the water courses would now be so overlain with silt that the salmon and sea trout that return in October and November would not be able to spawn.
Cusack said the cost of cleaning the rivers and returning them to their original state could run to hundreds of thousands of dollars. It was unlikely there would be restocking as the scientific advice was that naturally regenerated fish were healthier.
Cusack warned that further soil movement could be expected if more rain fell.
Earlier this week, water tankers were delivering supplies to thousands of homes, and all householders in north and east Kerry were asked to conserve supplies.
Boil water notices were issued to some. One of the two reservoirs had emptied and Kerry County Council was seeking alternative supplies.
Council workers succeeded in building a dam to divert the landslide of peat and bogland from further damaging rivers.
Officials were unable to put a price on the cost of clean-up, but said it will be “significant” after bridges, roads, telephone poles and other infrastructure are repaired.
Investigators were examining claims that preparatory work on a road for a proposed new windfarm area may have weakened natural defenses and caused the mudslide when the rains fell.
Millions of dollars of damage was caused in the country’s last major landslide five years ago when thousands of tons of rocks and mud crashed down on the tiny seaside village of Pollathomas, Co Mayo, in September 2003 following torrential rain.
By Paddy Clancy
28 August 2008
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