Commuters and buildings sprayed with human waste

Commuters and buildings sprayed with human waste

6 July 2016

NORTHERN Ireland Water has apologised after human excrement was splattered across homes and businesses in Crossgar by one of its contractors.

The company launched a clean-up operation in the village last Wednesday morning after sewage sludge was sprayed over walls, doors, windows and bins by a waste tanker as it passed along Downpatrick Street.

Several people waiting at the bus stop were also sprayed with the foul-smelling sludge.

Onlookers said the tanker sprayed sludge along walls all the way down the street before 8am. The shower of excrement was finally switched off just after it splattered the Villager pub.

The resulting mess was captured on video and posted on Facebook. Businessman Mark Moore — who runs Soapy Joe’s car wash — spearheading the clean-up before he was joined by officials from TM Waste, owners of the tanker which was transporting the sludge from Downpatrick’s sewage treatment plant.

Mr Moore said he was on his way to work when he saw the buildings covered with sludge.

“I started cleaning and some other contractors were contacted so it was a whole clean-up operation,” he said. “It was absolutely rotten filth. We disinfected everything. All the people’s bins were out for collecting and they were all covered too.”

Crossgar Community Association official Paul Teggart praised Mr Moore for his efforts.

“Mark forgot about his own business and must be commended for his community spirit and willingness to help others,” Mr Teggart said. “He responded to calls for help and I know many people are very grateful for what he did for them.”

“This was a very unfortunate incident and one which the people of Crossgar never want to see repeated. What happened was quite incredible and clearly something went disastrously wrong. Steps must be taken to ensure something like this never happens again.”

Councillor Terry Andrews said a faulty valve is being blamed for what happened. He said a mechanical problem kicked in and it ended up that an area from Bells garage to the Villager restaurant was plastered in effluent.

“People waiting at the bus stop got plastered in it. It can’t have been a nice experience for them. It’s hard to put into words,” he continued.

Councillor Andrews praised NI Water for ensuring a contractor was quickly on site to clean up the mess.

“NI Water pulled out all the stops to make sure everything was sorted and helped to get it clean and tidy. Some of the local businesses were worried about it because they thought they would be closed. But environmental services carried out a check and everyone worked flat-out to get the mess cleaned up,” Councillor Andrews continued.

He said the stench would have been worse, but for the heavy rain which kept the smell down. “Things would have been much worse if it had happened two weeks ago when conditions were much warmer.”

A spokesman for NI Water said the TM Waste sludge tanker was travelling from Downpatrick to Belfast and was working for the organisation at the time of  the incident.

“TM Waste was on site carrying out a clean-up operation with the assistance of NI Water and we apologise for the inconvenience caused,” the spokesman added.