Ireland

Emergency work at site of peat slide substantially completed

Dramatic footage of trees being swept away was shared widely on social media.
Dramatic footage of trees being swept away was shared widely on social media. Dramatic footage of trees being swept away was shared widely on social media.

EMERGENCY work to prevent further environmental damage following November’s huge peat slide at the site of a new windfarm in Co Donegal have been “substantially completed”.

Tonnes of bogland, vegetation and trees were swept away in the peat slide which started at the Meenbog wind farm near Stranorlar.

Dramatic footage of trees being swept downhill was widely shared on social media.

Environmental agencies said the incident had impacted on fisheries, flora and fauna in the Mourne Beg and Derg Rivers in Donegal and Tyrone and the Corgary trout farm.

Donegal County Council confirmed on Wednesday that there were still no plans to resume work at the site, pending a further review.

A spokeswoman said: “Emergency measures undertaken by the developer of the Meenbog wind farm in order to stabilise the peat slide that impacted the Mourne Beg River are substantially complete.

"These measures, which reduce the risk of further peat slides and mitigate against further pollution, require the ongoing need for surface water management on the site in order to divert water away from the site of the peat slide."

A cross border multi-agency working group, set up to deal with the incident, is meeting weekly. Officials are also monitoring and inspecting the site regularly.

"The wind farm developer is in the process of providing a number of reports and documentation to the statutory agencies on foot of various requests.

"No works are planned on the site of the wind farm in the interim, other that those necessary to maintain the integrity of the site and of the emergency measures, until the agencies have reviewed the documentation provided," the spokeswoman added.