One of the country's largest Irish owned distilleries has pleaded guilty to discharging effluent into its local river killing some 2,000 fish.
West Cork Distillers, of Marsh Road, Skibbereen, pleaded guilty at Skibbereen district court today, to three charges relating to an incident that happened on 21 July.
However, the company denied it was responsible for the fish kill, a claim that was not accepted by Judge James McNulty.
He adjourned the case for a fortnight to give the company the opportunity to make amends in a significant way for the harm they had done, and the reputational risk they had created for themselves, the whiskey industry and "wonderful" west Cork.
The judge said that to his knowledge there were 26 organisations invovled with Tidy Towns in West Cork.
He said that if the company returned in a fortnight's time with 26 drafts made out to each of these organizations in the sum of €1,000 each, he would be prepared to deal with the matter leniently.
He adjourned the case until 26 April.
Earlier, the court was told by Inland Fisheries Ireland Senior Environmental Officer Michael McPartland that some 2,000 fish were killed in the incident, with salmon, trout and flat fish found dead over 1km stretch of the Ilen River downstream of the company's plant.
A water sample taken near the outflow showed a BOD (biochemical oxygen demand) level of 1,536 milligrams per litre of water.
Mr McPartland explained this meant that the effluent coming out of the pipe had a greater oxygen demand of the water and the effect on fish would be to cause them to perish.
He said there were no dead fish upstream, only downstream.
Barrister Stephen O'Donoghue said West Cork Distillers were pleading guilty to the three charges, but did not accept that they had anything to do with the fish kill.
Company director John O'Connell told Judge McNulty that on the day in question there were exceptional conditions with temperatures of 27.5C and low river flows.
Their cooling system was struggling and there was an accidental discharge of foam from some of the fermentation tanks, which overran the one metre bund and into the river.
Mr O'Connell said the discharge was small and the impact on the river, he said, was also small. He did not accept it had led to the fish kill.
The company, which employs 140 people, and has an annual turnover of €54m, has since spent €126,000 on remedial works, the court was told.
The distillery, which produces some 4 million litres of alcohol annually, pleaded guilty to three charges.
Vincent Coakley, solicitor for IFI, said summons against all of the company's directors had been withdrawn following the company's guilty plea.
