Residents' concern at sewerage spill

15 August 2003: A sewerage overspill outside the gates of Naas Hospital this week was described as a 'major health hazard' by local residents, who have been critical of both the local authority reaction and of hospital management for failure to take adequate action afterwards on the hospital grounds.

The spill happened on Wednesday evening, when a 'flood' of sewerage erupted through a manhole in the Lakelands estate, directly opposite the hospital gates. According to residents it crossed the Craddockstown Road and into the entrance area of the hospital, which is currently undergoing a multi-million-euro upgrade.

Workers from Naas Town Council came and cordoned off a section of the green area on the estate where the eruption happened. One woman videoed 'a river of sewerage' which made its way down the main access road into Lakelands and disappeared near one of the lakes that gives the estate its name.

“We saw the Council staff out with trucks and from a distance we presumed they were cleaning out the shores,” residents Anne and Joe Gallagher said. “Then we could see it oozing up through the grass exactly across from the main gate of the hospital. It then went out on the road, at least two feet out, splattering up on to passing cars. The area was cordoned off at 9pm but not sufficiently so.”

They said ‘it was well into the gate of the hospital and the fire brigade had to pump it up’.

Residents have criticised the fact that a tape cordon was placed only around a small section of the grass the night of the incident. They claim the whole area should have been cordoned off. No warning signs were in place yesterday morning to warn hospital staff who park in Lakelands estate from 8 am. Many walk across the grass to the hospital and could carry infection into the hospital on their shoes.

The detritus from the sewerage spillage still uncleared inside Naas Hospital gates at midday yesterday, 18 hours after the incident.

Waste which included used toilet paper was still packed around a manhole INSIDE the hospital entrance up to midday yesterday. Gulleys along the road and the grass verges were coated with excrement and there were also used condoms, which were initially believed to be surgical gloves from the hospital.

A spokesperson for the South Western Health Board told KNN yesterday afternoon that it was a 'Kildare County Council problem' and that the authority was dealing with the issue. When asked about the material inside the hospital grounds being driven over and walked over by visitors and hospital staff, and presumably tracked into the hospital, the spokeperson said it was 'being dealt with'.

Naas Town Council Engineer John McGowan told local councillor Mary Glennon that there had been a 'blockage' in the sewer line, which runs from the Craddockstown Road to the Blessington Road, servicing a number of estates on the way.

He also promised that any sewerage which had leaked into the lake area 'would be cleaned up as a priority'.

But Lakelands residents yesterday were furious at what they said was the lack of an adequate action plan' by the local authority to deal with the situation immediately.

"There was nobody to direct them, and we had to tell them what to do," Anne Gallagher, whose house fronts onto the area, said of the emergency team. "It was only at our insistance that they sent for the Fire Brigade, for instance." Ms Gallagher also called Naas Hospital to prevent their staff's cars from parking where the road had been contaminated, but this was not done.

Resident Breda Kelly said the biggest surprise seemed to be that there was nobody to take charge. "I can't believe that there aren't Health & Safety inspectors here to monitor the situation," she said.

Lakelands Residents Association Secretary Michael Moriarity (pictured above with two youngsters who usually play in the area - Brian Dooley and Brian Gallagher) said the situation 'should have been taken more seriously'. "The gardai didn't do anything last night, and the council's response was insufficient'," he said.

Cllr Charlie Byrne described the spill as ‘a major health hazard’ and said if it had been an oil spill, warning signs would have been in place. He feared much of the sewerage had gone into the shores and could have reached the town’s water supply.