Sewage to stop flowing into sea at Ballyhornan

Sewage to stop flowing into sea at Ballyhornan

6 February 2013

WORK to stop raw sewage being pumped into the Irish Sea at Ballyhornan starts next month.

Northern Ireland Water has confirmed that a contractor has been appointed to upgrade the village’s ageing sewerage system and work is due to get underway by the middle of March.

The organisation has been under intense pressure to stop raw sewage being pumped into the sea and was warned by the Environment Agency that it has until the end of next month to prevent this from happening.

Homes at the former Ministry of Defence base at Ballyhornan are connected to a sewerage system which pumps waste water directly into the sea off the local coastline, in contravention of strict discharge standards.

The proposed NI Water scheme includes the construction of a screening facility at the Killard Road which will filter waste water before it enters the sea. This site has also been earmarked for the construction of a new pumping station to pump raw sewage to Ardglass for treatment.

In addition, a waste water pumping station located close to Ballyhornan beach is to be upgraded to re-route it to the new screening facility when it’s constructed.

Confirmation that work to address the sewage problems in the area is scheduled to get underway in mid-March has been welcomed by South Down MP Margaret Ritchie.

She said the sewerage system in the Ballyhornan area is “substandard” and that direct government intervention is required to resolve the problem.

Miss Ritchie also issued a fresh call for a number of government departments to address a range of infrastructural problems in the Ballyhornan area.

She added: “I have received assurance from Environment Minister Alex Attwood that he is supportive of this strategy in an effort to meet the infrastructural needs of the Ballyhornan area.

“Further to this, Regional Development Minister Danny Kennedy is currently assessing a development plan for Ballyhornan to advise on areas of possible assistance from his department.”