Fish-farmers in the south Donegal area say a new site must be found to dump silt as part work on the extension of the Harbour in Killybegs.
The Department of Agriculture wants to apply to the Environmental Protection Agency for a licence to dump almost 100,000 tonnes of silt from the harbour out at sea.
It’s all part of the work to extend the pier and harbour in Killybegs, something the local community including the 150 fish-farmers in the area want.
However, the aquaculture division of the IFA called a meeting with local fish farmers yesterday in Killybegs to discuss the serious concerns they have about the site in Donegal Bay where at least 20,000 tonnes of the material will be dumped.
The Department of Agriculture says that the more ‘toxic’ material will be disposed of at landfill.
Executive of IFA Aquaculture, Richie Flynn, says the site that is being chosen at sea was the site of a major fish kill in 2003 and plan to object to these plans by the Department:
